House Steiner

HISTORICAL ARCHIVE TEAM
FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF THE
HISTORY OF THE HOUSES OF THE INNER SPHERE
AND STAR LEAGUE
HOUSE STEINER
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INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
Introduction
Dawn of a New Age
Founding Fathers
Hegemony, Prosperity, and Foundation
Chaos and Corruption
Marsden in Power
Dawning of the Age of War
The ‘Social Generals’
The Reluctant Archon
The First Steiner
Birth of a Dynasty
Early Steiner Archons
Steiner Family Background
The Steiner Way
The BattleMech Era
Operation Prometheus
The Bloodthirsty General
Lyran Military Superiority
Long March, Hard March
The Dark Years
Trial of Duke Reynolds
Order of Magnitude
Steven Steiner
The Tharkan Witch
Eagles Cry
Repaying Old Debts
The Star League Era
Prelude
Minor Adjustments
Disillusionment
Operation Mailed Fist
The Archon Kidnapped
Berserker
Day of Rage
The Good Years
Decline and Fall of the Star League
Babe Among Wolves
Territorial Troubles
Idealism and Villainy
The Usurper
Final Acts
Exodus
First Succession War
Military Readiness
Declarations of War
Patterns of War
Tigers and Stealths
Attacks on Hesperus II
The Military Realities
Bella I
Lambs to the Slaughter
Terms of Exhaustion
The Second Succession War
Reconstruction Efforts
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Rescue of the Chahar Profit
State of War
Tales of Grimm
Claudius the Cruel
Death of the Fourth
Operation Praying Mantis
The Triumverate
“What, Me Worry?”
Elizabeth Steiner
The Third Succession War
Lull
Once More Into the Breach
Hanging On
Three Steps in the Right Direction
The Battle of Skye
Calling All Citizens
The Cost of Freedom
The Open Wound
The Traitor Tertren
The Reign of Giovanni Steiner
The Battle of Loric
Alessandro Steiner
Hesperus Revisited
The Policy of Concentrated Weakness
Ouster
Current Events
Conclusion
SOCIOPOLITICAL STRUCTURE
The Archonship
The Commonwealth Council
The Royal Court
Nobility
The Estates General
Provinces
The Federation of Skye
The Tamar Pact
The Protectorate of Donegal
The Commonwealth Judiciary
Internal Politics and Policies
The Lyran Commonwealth Civil Service
Overt Political Goals
Interstellar Relations
The Free Worlds League
The Capellan Confederation
The Federated Suns
The Draconis Combine
The Periphery
ComStar
Covert Political Goals
The Archon
The Lyran Intelligence Corps
The Royal Court
The Estates General
Strengths and Weaknesses
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
The One Star Faith and Other Beliefs
Relations Between Religions
Myths and Legends
Strengths and Weaknesses
MILITARY FORCES
Uniforms in the LCAF
The Structure of the LCAF
Military Education
The Rep-Dep Corps
The Judge Advocate General’s Office
The Quartermaster Corps
Transport Division
Military Intelligence
The Strategies and Tactics Division
The Commonwealth Navy
The Commonwealth AeroSpace Force
The Reserve Corps
House Troops Liason
Mercenary Troops Liason
The Commonwealth Army
The Commonwealth Medical Corps
The Administrative Section
The High Command
Deployment of LCAF Forces
Typical Commonwealth Units
Weapon Industries
Military Supplies
Major Military Academies
Medals and Decorations
Strengths and Weaknesses of the LCAF
This early symbol of the Lyran Commonwealth
symbolizes the three original entities: The Federation
of Skye, The Protectorate of Donegal and the Tamar
Pact, and how individually they were less than they
were when united under Steiner rule.
CULTURE AND ARTS
Education
Research Universities
The Arts
Daily Life and Culture
Public Media
Societal Problems
ComStar and the Lyran People
General Relations
Political Influence
Commonwealth Threats to ComStar
SOCIOECONOMICS
Governmental Attitude
Political Aims of the Economy
Consumer Goods
Corporate Profiles
Other Major Commonwealth Industries
Trade with Other Successor States
Free Worlds League
The Draconis Combine
The Capellan Confederation
The Federated Suns
Strengths and Weaknesses
PERSONALITIES
A BRIEF ATLAS
The Protectorate of Donegal
The Federation of Skye
The Tamar Pact
MAP OF THE LYRAN COMMONWEALTH
Writing
Boy F. Peterson, Jr.
Editorial Staff
Editor-in-Chief
L. Ross Babcock III
Senior Editor
Donna Ippolito
Editors
Todd Huettel
Tara Gallagher
Robt. Wells
Production Staff
Production Manager
Jordan Wiesman
Art Director
Dana Knutson
Cover Art
Dana Knutson
Uniform Design and Illustration
David R. Dietrick
Color Illustration
Jim Holloway
Illustration
Jeff Laubenstein
Todd F. Marsh
Dana Knutson
Dawen Wehrs
Typesetting
Tara Gallagher
Robt. Wells
Layout
Tara Gallagher
Pasteup
Jeff Laubenstein
Todd F. Marsh
Dana Knutson
Dawne Wehrs
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INTRODUCTION
By Gerald Steiner-Nelson,
ComStar Archives, Terra
The average citizen regards ComStar as a last bastion of
knowledge and wisdom, which conjures images of robed figures
guarding a tremendous library containing all the knowledge in
the universe. Even we of ComStar sometimes forget that
knowledge cannot be totally captured in a book or computer
memory, but that it also develops daily, constantly growing and
changing, as people live and learn. Some ComStar members
believe themselves keepers of all that is known or worth knowing.
It can be a rude shock to these brethren to discover the wisdom
of laymen and the fallibility of ComStar, a discovery often resulting
from a serious transgression by that brother or sister against a
Successor State or even against our Order itself.
The First Circuit has commissioned this series of books on
the Successor States in hopes that giving our members a basic
understanding of each State’s citizenry will prevent future
breaches that might destroy ComStar’s reputation. These volumes
will be part of every Acolyte’s education in order to develop
respect for the cultures of those less fortunate than we. No one
but ComStar could have gathered much of the information
contained here, which makes these books the most valuable
Successor State references now in existence.
House Steiner, the subject of this volume, is of major concern
to ComStar. As the Commonwealth continues to develop its
economic, technological, and social potential, it will prove either
a potent client or ComStar’s most active enemy. With its strong
economy and massive industrial base, the Lyran Commonwealth
has the potential to achieve an interstellar domination stronger
than any military conquest, winning the allegiance of planets by
development, not destruction. Should the Lyran military overcome
its history of mismanagement, House Steiner’s advantage in
‘Mechs and materiel would further reinforce their power.
The Commonwealth’s history provides a valuable lesson in
the use of compromise. The extensive historic account in this
book traces the path that this realm has taken to avoid the perils
of political fragmentation that plagues the Free Worlds League,
or the political repression that stifles the Draconis Combine.
This book also provides insight into the new alliance between
the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns. This sudden
and unexpected union is the most important event to occur in
the Inner Sphere since the fail of Star League. What happens
between the two powers will shape our future, and it is vital that
every ComStar member stay informed of developments.
In addition to the extensive history sections, this volume
includes vital information on the economic, political, military,
social, and cultural aspects of life in the realm of House Steiner.
There is also an atlas of key Commonwealth worlds and a briefing
on leading personalities of House Steiner. Altogether, this book
should give an understanding of life for the average
Commonwealth citizen as well as insight into how its rulers think
and behave.
It is the duty of all ComStar members to study these guides.
The coming years promise to be as turbulent as any in this era of
wars. Our knowledge of the powers and people of the Successor
States may determine whether we prosper or wither.
HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
The backward look behind the assurance
Of recorded history, the backward halflook
Over the shoulder, toward the primitive terror.
—From The Dry Salvages, by T(homas) S(tearns) Eliot,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3024 (first published 1941)
You have to question the sanity of anyone who claims that
history is filled with honor and moral deeds. Either the man is a
lunatic or is too stupid to understand what historians throughout
the ages have been trying to say.
—From Shards of the Mirror. History as the Future’s
Reflection, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press,
3023
realm, with the highest average standard of living, an economy
both vigorous and stable, and with the only currency more
powerful than ComStar’s C-Bills.
The history of any of the Successor States revolves around
the ruling family. In the Lyran Commonwealth, that means House
Steiner. The most economically shrewd of the five ruling houses,
the Steiners realize that without a strong and viable economy
churning out arms and munitions, they have little hope of holding
back the incursions of their neighbors, the Draconis Combine
and the Free Worlds League. They also realize that the loyalty of
their peoples rests upon how much material comfort and hope
for the future they enjoy. It is because the Steiner family pursues
prosperity rather than raw power that their position is presently
so strong.
DAWN OF A NEW AGE
The maiden voyage of the first truly interstellar ship in 2108
The Successor States: five separate empires, each ruled
proved to be far more than a dawning of a new age of exploration.
by a single family that has reigned over their hundreds of worlds
The Terran Alliance, the global government created in 2086, was
for hundreds of years. These ruling families control vast resources,
having a rocky time, despite the high ideals of its founders. There
countless people, and near limitless possibilities. They are also
were frequent clashes between the rich member-nations and
responsible for the many planets now in ruins, wastelands that
those poorer states who felt over-taxed but denied the material
stand as mute condemnation of the five Successor Lords’ inability
benefits their taxes helped to create for others. While war often
to coexist.
seemed just around the corner as politicians played with
The defiant clenched fist of House Steiner’s banner flies
Armageddon, Terra herself was failing deeper into a quagmire of
over the Lyran Commonwealth, the third largest realm. Defiant
pollution and overcrowding.
indeed, for the Lyrans and their vigorous economy are unmatched
Thousands fled from this chaos on the sails of the newly
in their ability to reflect some of the material glory of the Star
developed JumpShips. They founded colonies on worlds so
League era. Though their military history has not been equally
distant that the settlers believed that all the petty bickering, all
glorious, House Steiner mocks its enemies by prospering despite
the self-interested politics, were now far behind them. As one
the setbacks. Indeed, it is slowly but surely entangling the entire
popular song put it, they hoped to spend their lives “sowing seeds
Inner Sphere in the webs of its commerce and products.
in new Eden”. Though this was not always the case, even horror
Located in the northwest quadrant of what would eventually
stories like that of bull-sized predators who devoured the entire
become known as the Inner Sphere, the Lyran Commonwealth
colony on Thorin did not dampen the widespread desire to flee
includes some of the most resource-rich planets in known space.
the politics and pollution of Terra.
These immense resources, coupled with the shrewd business
By 2172, more than a hundred human colonies had formed
sense of countless Lyran political and business leaders, have
a sphere 120 light years in diameter. Within the next 60 years,
managed to keep the realm’s economy moving ever forward
that number swelled to more than a thousand newly settled
despite the military setbacks. To repair the ravages of war,
worlds. Communications between the
government and industry have always
farthest colony and Terra now took a
joined forces to repair damage. Some
SOWING UNCERTAIN SEEDS
full eight months.
historians have even suggested that
The food riots in the Sovereign Republic of
Considering the distances and
business is the Steiner religion and
Northern Ireland that began in the poorer districts of
times involved, it is no surprise that
factories their temple, so great is the
Belfast last night have now been quelled. It is uncertain
some of the more distant colonies
desire to see damage repaired and the
how many are dead or wounded. The Prime Minister of
declared their independence in 2236.
economy moving forward again.
the United Kingdom today proposed a worldwide
Mother-governments are seldom
The Commonwealth lost much
moratorium on the production of all freon-based
prepared to let their offspring decide
technology to the Succession Wars,
products to help stop the further depletion of the ozone
their own destinies. So it was with the
as did the other Successor States, but
layer. It is estimated that one million will suffer skin
Terran Alliance which immediately, and
the rate of decline has been slower and
cancers. The development of the first spaceship to use
with righteous indignation, to take back
more gradual. This was because farthe Kearny-Fuchida drive has gone over budget for the
its own. The attempt to win back the
sighted Lyran businessmen and
fifth time. The leaders of the Affiliation of Poorer States
rebellious worlds led to a costly little
political leaders constantly readjusted
have called the new ship a ‘great white elephant’.
war that taught the Alliance that
the economy and the people’s
—From The Evening News with Jessica Fredders,
distances and the difficulty in
expectations to match the dwindling
Terran National Broadcasting Co., April 2, 2105
maintaining lines of supply were a
technology. As a result, the Lyran
more real enemy than colonists hiding
economy was never totally disrupted.
in the bushes
House Steiner is currently the richest
with their laser rifles.
This fiasco set off a bitter power struggle within the
Alliance that was to last for decades. One of the first
results of this struggle was an abrupt change in the
policies of the Terran Alliance toward its colonies. The
Expansionist Party was voted out of power in favor of the
more isolationist Liberal Party. The new government
completely withdrew its troops and administrators from the frontier
worlds, leaving them gloriously independent but naked as
newborn babes.
The colonies had won their sovereignty, but it was small
comfort now that they were cut off from Terra’s aid. The colonists
soon found that they could not eat independence when their crops
failed, nor could they drink sovereignty when fresh water suddenly
grew foul. Their vaunted ‘Freedom’ from distant Terra was a joke
to colonists cowering behind barbed wire while house-sized
predators lurked in the dark forests beyond. And so the children
of the Alliance shivered in the cold while their motherworld sulked
within the 30 light-year radius of her new borders.
FOUNDING FATHERS
Life grew increasingly grim for the colonies, many of
which dwindled and died from Terra’s neglect. Meanwhile,
the home planet existed in the eye of a nearly perpetual
political storm that set rival parties at each other’s throats.
The resulting political intolerance and strife created a
whole new wave of people who decided to leave Terra,
booking passage on JumpShips headed for the outworlds. This
new wave of emigrants, many of whom were the planet’s best
and brightest, is now known as the Exodus.
Among those who left to seek their fortunes was Ian
McQuiston, a rich, cocky Scotsman. The 30-year-old son of a
merchant-ship company owner in Great Britain, McQuiston was
among the many who had to leave Terra because his mind and
his mouth were too closely linked. Not only had this made trouble
for him with his father and his lover, but his aggressive business
dealings had also alienated many people. McQuiston was
determined that out there among the colonies he was going to
do things his way. This Scotsman chose the distant colony on
Skye because he had heard that only Skye had the moody rain,
deep green valleys, and fog-wreathed hills of his beloved
homeland.
The shrewd McQuiston soon showed true to form by
acquiring three of the planet’s largest trading companies. In 2282,
his fellow colonists elected Ian president of Skye, an honor he
had not sought but that pleased him nonetheless. By 2296, he
had managed to consolidate several interplanetary merchant
fleets into the Skye Traders, a conglomerate that came to
dominate a wedge of space between the Alliance border and the
worlds of Ford, Clinton, and Sakhalin. Though not a particularly
tall man, McQuiston certainly proved himself long on economic
and political savvy.
After gaining economic control over many of the worlds
serviced by Skye Traders, McQuiston next entered into a series
of negotiations with the planetary leaders to win their cooperation
for his next ambitious step. In 2299, Ian McQuiston had enough
power to announce that he was forming an interstellar
government. It would be known as the Federation of Skye, and
would guide the political destiny and provide military protection
for the worlds controlled by his trading company.
In this era, McQuiston was not the only ambitious man in
this farflung corner of known space. When the Federation of Skye
was only about ten years old, McQuiston quarreled with Seth
Marsden, his most trusted advisor. Marsden promptly quit the
company. Though it was rumored that the two had fallen out over
money, Marsden was probably seeking a pretext to make his
own fortune under his own terms. Following in his mentor’s
footsteps, he decided to make a fresh start on Donegal, where
he arrived in 2301. With its amiable climate and many natural
resources, Donegal was a pleasant world whose central location
gave it strategic importance as well.
Marsden proved himself an apt pupil. Twelve years after
establishing his own trading company, Donegal Freights and
Goods, his power and influence had blossomed to the point where
he, too, had created his own political domain, the Protectorate of
Donegal.
Meanwhile, the Tamars, a family of American-Pakistani origins,
were having their own success in a region of space bounded by
Fatima, Nox, and Suk II. Though they had also formed their own
shipping and trade company, the Tamars’ real power was based
on their agricultural resources and their ability to train soldiers to
fight bandits, a major scourge in their region. Because of these
strengths, their political power grew to the point that, in 2235, they
created the Tamar Pact, a mutual defense alliance designed to
combat banditry and to promote the resources of the region.
STEINERS IN SPACE
The smell was intolerable. Here in the Emigrant’s
Waystation at Terra’s zenith jump point, so many
thousands had entered the processing room and then
gone out again through the large double doors at the
other end. To exit through those doors was the goal of
the hundreds that now packed the poorly lit, poorly ventilated
room. Yet, those same doors seemed to be guarded by the
dozens of haggard bureaucrats crouched over their cluttered
desks and dusty computer consoles. Perhaps that was the
reason the overriding odor of the place was fear.
A tall, young man with blond hair and gray eyes stood
uncertainly before a Processor who was violently jabbing at
a computer keyboard and muttering curses. Nervously, the
young man twisted his ring, its silver fist emblem that caught
the weak light and flashed briefly. Finally, the young man
spoke:
“Enshul ... I mean, excuse me, bitte.”
The official looked up and took the collection of forms
from the young man. After casting a cursory glance over the
papers, he looked up again.
“This you, Gunther Ludwig Steiner?”
“Yes.”
“Donegal, huh? Long way, but they say that’s where the
action is.” Not waiting for a reply, the man went on, “I see
here you’ve already got a job there. With who?”
“I will be an assistant data manager with Donegal
Freights and Goods.”
The official didn’t hear, or else he was too busy stamping
and signing the emigrant’s papers. With a final scribble, he
looked up and handed the forms back to the young man.
“Give this top form to the stewards when you board.
Your ship is the Colonial JumpShip Aaron Bruenston, docked
at gate 5D. Good luck.”
Gunther Steiner took his stack of forms and walked
toward the large doors leading to the JumpShip terminal
and his new future.
—From The Steiner Family: A Dramatization, holoplay
by Gregory Dupont, Donegal Broadcasting Co., January 5,
3011
HEGEMONY, PROSPERITY, AND FOUNDATION
The Terran Alliance finally fell apart in 2314. All the
talk, all the noble speeches that had once proclaimed it
as the last bastion for the betterment of mankind, were
shattered by gunfire as the Expansionists and the Liberals
fought it out in the streets. The bloody warfare went on
for several months before the charismatic James
McKenna intervened with his fleet and assumed political control.
McKenna then forged a new order from the ashes of the old. He
named it the Terran Hegemony.
As leader of the Hegemony, James McKenna stimulated a
new age of scientific and political interest in the colonies,
reestablishing Terra as the center of humanity and a place to
which the distant worlds could turn for help. Though the earlier
Terran Alliance had shrunk in size and influence, the Hegemony
soon regained direct control over more than a hundred worlds.
McKenna’s policies helped to spark a time of prosperity
throughout the Inner Sphere, a prosperity that led to the discovery
of new technologies and other scientific advances that spread
from Terra to the most distant colonies.
The three defense pacts greatly benefited from the Terran
government’s renewed interest in the worlds beyond its borders.
Coreward, the Tamar Pact and the Protectorate of Donegal both
embarked on ambitious exploration and expansion programs that
more than doubled the size of each realm. The Federation of
Skye, on the other hand, found itself boxed in by the Tamar Pact
on one side, the Marik Commonwealth on the other, the
Protectorate of Donegal toward the Periphery, and the Hegemony
earthward. This effectively prevented the Federation from
expanding even one lightyear beyond its original borders. Though
few in the Federation wanted to renounce the ambition to acquire
new worlds, they had no choice but to turn their energy inward,
becoming one of the first colonial regions to heavily industrialize.
It is sad but true that cooperation flourishes best in times of
prosperity, not austerity. So it was with humanity during the good
years of the Hegemony. Smaller realms began merging to form
larger and more powerful states centered on a strong central
government. In 2271, the Free Worlds League was the first such
Terran Hegemony member-state to be formed. Next, the
Federated Suns was created by the Crucis Pact of 2317. They
were soon followed by the creation of the Draconis Combine in
2319.
By the 2330s, there was talk of a merger among the
McQuistons, the Marsdens, and the Tamars, all of whom had
good reason to desire it. With its vast number of worlds, the
Protectorate of Donegal had plenty of raw resources but not
enough population to fully industrialize. The Federation of Skye,
on the other hand, had plenty of people and the best-developed
industries, but the ready resources on its worlds were running
out. For its part, the Tamar Pact feared that House Kurita would
eventually seek to conquer its rich worlds, and the Kurita armies
were not an enemy that the Tamars could hope to fight off alone.
In 2339, Kevin Tamar decided that the time for idle talk was
over. He proposed to the leaders of the other two leagues that
they meet and discuss the possibility of uniting. A year later, all
three arrived on the Tamar world of Arcturus to discuss the
proposed merger.
Though the talk was earnest and remarkably free of
ego, the three men could not agree on the best system of
government to unite their realms. Businessmen all, they
easily created a promising economic plan, but the political
question brought the talks to a standstill. A refined and
educated man, Kevin Tamar had proposed a system of
nine ‘archons’ to rule the realm in much the same way
the ancient Greeks ruled their city-states. Though, his two
colleagues were not much impressed, they eventually agreed to
the idea because nothing better had emerged from their talks.
To reinforce the ancient Greek imagery, Robert Marsden
proposed the three-stringed Grecian lyre as the new state’s
symbol. This symbol eventually inspired a name for the new state:
the Lyran Commonwealth. Thomas McQuiston heartily agreed
with the state seal and name. “Tis a good name,” he said, “showing
to all that we three merged our realms for our common wealth
and not out of some twisted desire to dominate our neighbors”.
On January 5, 2341, Michael Cameron, Director General of
the Terran Hegemony, officially recognized the Lyran
Commonwealth. In his speech, he welcomed “the new memberstate with its grand potential and resourceful peoples”.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
On this holiday of holidays, Simon Kilsly was upset.
He had just learned from his boss at Deptron Electronics
that he was being transferred from his home on Skye
to distant Donegal. What had he done to deserve this?
Uprooting his family to move to a foreign world where
they hardly knew a tri-gated logic circuit from a rock?
Where was the sense in that? If this is what it meant to
be part of the Lyran Commonwealth, then he would
rather remain a Federation man-and the devil hang all
the glory talk about strength and destiny.
His wife sensed Simon’s anger as he entered their
small apartment. She wondered if perhaps he had seen
the remnants of the paint a graffitist had splattered
across their door. Even with the fan-laser, it had taken
most of the day to remove the paint.
Watching him grumble while ensconced in his
favorite chair, she decided that Simon had not seen
the graffiti. It must be his work, she thought. Lucky that
grandmother and grandfather were away from the house
celebrating their 60th anniversary and would probably
spend the night at a hotel reliving old memories. That
meant it would only be her, Simon, and the three kids
in the apartment tonight. She hoped that Simon’s foul
mood would be soothed by the unaccustomed quiet.
—From The Kilslys: History Through the Common
Family , by Thomas Ehrlich, Dontar & Smithson,
Publishers, 3000
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
A loaf of bread that cost 5 Tamar dollars last
week now costs 54 dollars after the government
devaluation. The border incident, the worst in 20
years, involved a battalion of Skye armor and a
regiment of Kurita infantry. Tensions along the border
have increased enormously. Prime Minister Davis
Kelswa today ordered open discussion of the Pact’s
continued participation in the Commonwealth, which
he characterized as, “a pack of ravenous wolves
feasting upon the carcasses of our labors”.
—From the All-The-News-You-Need-To-Know
Show, Proud Skye Network, November 16, 2364
CHAOS AND CORRUPTION
All the noble sentiments that went into creating the Lyran
Commonwealth soon disappeared as the sheer logistics of
governing the gigantic state became apparent. Its three leaders
could not even agree who would become the nine ruling archons,
let alone watch over the lives of a hundred billion people.
It took until 2346 to decide finally that the nine archons would
include the leaders of the three founding defense pacts, their
deputies, an elected treasurer, the commander of the
Commonwealth defense force, and a transportation secretary.
Once they had finally come to terms on this, they still could not
agree on who should be the Archon Basileus, the leader of
archons.
When the archons met officially for the first time in the ornate
capital constructed just for them on Arcturus, they decided that
their economic plan for the Commonwealth was full of holes. The
attempt to merge the three economies, each with its own currency
and characteristics, had resulted in near chaos. All over the new
Commonwealth, individual planetary economies were fluctuating
wildly. The economic crisis was so bad that the Archon Treasurer
had attempted suicide three days before this meeting. It would
be 25 years before this tangle of economic problems eventually
sorted itself out in 2375.
While the people of the Commonwealth were riding the
economic roller coaster, a new and equally disheartening problem
arose. Nearly every one of the archons was showing a brazen
lack of public conscience or civic responsibility, and instead was
profiting shamelessly from inside information on the economy.
Worse yet, instead of trying to keep their doings secret, most of
the corrupt archons had begun to flaunt their wealth before a
populace that was finding it increasingly difficult to pay for food
and other bare necessities.
Added to this, the Draconis Combine had embarked on a
vigorous military buildup on its border with the Lyran
Commonwealth. It soon became obvious that the Commonwealth
military had to respond by strengthening its own forces. To do
that would mean going to the people for a raise in taxes. The
public, which had grown cynical about its government,
immediately rejected the idea. So great was this anti-government
sentiment that there was serious talk in the Tamar Pact of breaking
with the Commonwealth to seek a peace treaty with the Draconis
Combine. Clearly something had to be done.
In December 2375, Robert Marsden was officially
recognized as the Archon Basileus by the newly
It is seldom true that men whose decisions radically
assembled Estates General, whose representatives were
affect the combined fate of many people are ‘men of vision’
from more than half the worlds in the realm. It was the
who have only been waiting for the chance to fulfill their
first time individual worlds were to have a say in the
destiny. Robert Marsden, for example, was a man much
Commonwealth government.
like his grandfather Seth-decisive, stubborn, and with a
Marsden’s first action was to sentence the eight
hatred of poorly run organizations. He was a practical
former archons to life imprisonment. The next action of this kingman who simply wanted to see a good idea-that of the Lyran
like ruler was to submit a document called the Articles of
Commonwealth-work. In his view, the only way would be for
Acceptance for approval by every inhabited planet in the Lyran
somebody to seize the power needed to get the job done. And
Commonwealth. The Articles outlined the rights of each world as
so he did.
well as its responsibilities to the Archon and the Commonwealth.
Historians have had a rather ambivalent attitude toward
Because this rather loose set of laws and guidelines left
Robert Marsden. To some, he is the original Commonwealth
considerable freedom to individual worlds, most eagerly signed.
patriot, the leader who took a tottering realm and set it on the
Some worlds interpreted this document as a threat to their
high road it travels today. To others, he is known as ‘The Crusher’
individual freedom, however. Still others suddenly panicked when
for his cold-blooded cruelty.
they realized how far the Commonwealth was moving from its
Aware of the growing discontent among the people and the
original intent, and so withdrew their support of the new system.
likelihood of war with the Draconis Combine, Robert set in motion
By January 2378, a total of 22 worlds stood opposed to the new
a plan. First, he began secretly to collect evidence of the other
government and its Archon.
archons’ illegal doings. As the only archon besides the
Most of these dissenter worlds were eventually ‘persuaded’
commanding general to have served in the military, Robert was
to join with Marsden when Commonwealth ships appeared at
able to begin contacting his still-active military comrades to create
their jump points to blockade the planet and starve it into
a core of loyal troops throughout the Commonwealth.
submission. The only hold-outs were the eight self-sustaining
Next, Robert Marsden embarked on an ambitious tour of
worlds, which included Tamar and Skye. In a controversial and
the realm, ostensibly to assess the latest attempts to patch up
violent action, Robert Marsden launched major invasions of these
the Lyran economy. Actually, he was meeting with the leaders of
planets and succeeded in crushing the dissenters in bloody
planetary governments critical of the Commonwealth, hoping to
campaigns. Though this episode did not further ingratiate the
win their support for his plan. He was also placing loyal members
Archon with his people, it did impress upon them that at least his
of his staff in strategic positions inside key communications
was to be a decisive government.
centers.
Having completed these preparations, he now made his
DAWNING OF THE AGE OF
move. In August of 2375, after yet
another fruitless meeting of the
WAR
archons, Robert Marsden stayed
The next 15 years gave
AIR RESCUE
behind on Arcturus the others
Robert
Marsden plenty of
The fact that he and his men were pinned down in the
were en route to their various
opportunity
to erase his
city’s central park and very likely going to die didn’t bother
homeworlds. When he was sure
reputation as ‘The Crusher’ from
Captain
Greerson
as
much
as
that
they
would
die
at
the
that the other archons were too
his people’s minds. Especially in
hands of his fellow citizens of Skye. To either side, the
far to be able to react quickly,
his favor were his economic
Captain could hear the whoosh of the last anti-tank missiles
Marsden issued a message to
programs, which revitalized the
fired by his infantrymen at the approaching armor of the
the whole Commonwealth. In it,
economy. Soon Commonwealth
Skye Independence Army. It wouldn’t be long, Greerson
he listed the many abuses
worlds were making products for
thought grimly.
perpetrated by the archons and
export throughout the Inner
From behind and above him came an unexpected
publicly stripped them of their
Sphere. They received lucrative
screech. Peering up through the smoke, he saw a VTOL
powers. He declared himself the
contracts to use their expertise
armored transport craft swooping its way toward him. Hoping
Archon Basileus, the King
to help equip the Terran military.
for the best, the Captain pressed the recall button that
Archon, the sole source of power
Not only did this opportunity load
beeped
its
order
into
the
ears
of
his
few
remaining
men.
within the Commonwealth
the coffers of the Lyran economy,
When the craft stopped in a hover, the Captain could
government.
it also gave its government
suddenly see why. Shrubbery erupted as a tank burst
An outpouring of moral
access to restricted Hegemony
through to point its main gun directly at his command car.
outrage against the corrupt
military information.
Above him, he could hear the whine of protesting jet nozzles.
archons was exactly the reaction
At the same time, the
The VTOL lurched and pitched its left side down. One of its
Marsden had hoped for from the
Commonwealth
was greatly
weapon turrets looked for, locked on, and spat a missile
people. Most worlds followed the
expanding
its
own
army. Those
that sped unerringly toward the tank. The tank exploded
tide of public opinion by publicly
soldiers
who
had
shown
loyalty
with a flash of light and a dull thud.
supporting the charismatic
to
Robert
Marsden
had
become
Later, as the VTOL flew its way back to the beachhead,
Marsden and his new
ranking officers in the military. By
the
Captain
and the pilot got to talking about family. They
government. Many other
recruiting from avidly supportive
chatted about their wives and the future they dreamed of
planetary governments eagerly
worlds, the majority of the
for their daughters.
aided Robert Marsden because
Commonwealth regiments were
After landing, the Captain and his men disembarked.
he had promised that his new
loyal. The sudden boom in the
Turning to look at the pilot, Captain Greerson gave the man
government would need a
economy also meant that the
a sloppy salute and a smile of thanks. Flight Officer Steiner
parliamentary body of planetary
Lyran military was one of the best
waved back, then popped his VTOL back into the sky.
delegates to advise him.
equipped and supplied in
—From Brother Against Brother: An Unofficial Civil War,
MARSDEN IN POWER
by Tolandson Mizer, Graf of Tamaraine, Red Fire Press, 2801
the Inner Sphere. The new wealth gave the generals and
fleet admirals enough resources to experiment, inspiring
the creation of a large military sciences center on
Coventry. This sudden increase in Lyran military power
also kept House Kurita from making any major offensive
move toward border worlds. It did not stop them from
making the occasional raid to steal precious resources
or simply to cause a little havoc, however.
It was Robert Marsden’s efforts to bolster the military, his
haven from the nonsense of politics, that would also be his
downfall. In 2395, after remarking casually that he wouldn’t mind
drinking a magnum of champagne from the planet Promised Land,
his overconfident military undertook a disastrous mission to take
that Marik-owned world. By the time Marsden learned of and
tried to stop the undertaking, it was too late. Ten Commonwealth
regiments, including one of elite jump troops and another of heavy
armor, were wiped out.
Instead of blaming their own impetuosity, the military blamed
the Archon for the catastrophe. Three weeks after news of the
massacre on the Promised Land broke, Robert Marsden was
found dead. Though his death was officially listed as a massive
coronary, few believed the story.
THE PLAY’S THE THING
Three weeks after the death of the Archon, the
Royal Arcturan Shakespearean Players suddenly
announced that they had changed their mind and were
not going to perform Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s
Dream for their gala 20th anniversary performance.
They urged those with tickets to come anyway to
witness their rendition of a play ‘with special poignancy
in these troubled times’. Many top government officials,
including most of the generals from the High Command,
attended the festive event.
As the curtain went up, the audience saw that the
scene was set for Hamlet, a tale of poisoning,
usurpation, and plays within plays. The implied scorn
caught the conscience of the would-be kings, several
of whom left the theater in a huff. They had definitely
gotten the message.
—From The Lyran Commonwealth Before the
Steiners, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth Historical
Press, 3022
THE ‘SOCIAL GENERALS’
Much has been written about the chronic lack of skills
characterizing the senior officers of the Commonwealth
military since its foundation. One explanation is that the
training program for senior officers is flawed, but this
ignores the existence of the ‘social generals’ and their
effect on the LCAF throughout its history.
Immediately after formation of the Lyran Commonwealth,
the new allies’ ignorance of one another created a tidal wave of
social blunders. People from one part of the realm did not know
how to identify or address important personages, such as
industrialists or other influential people from distant regions. There
was no problem with an
ambassador, for example, for
that title was generally
Section 57, subgraph
accepted, but the powerC.
On
the attendance of
brokers,
bankers,
and
social
functions:
All senior
important political middlemen
officers
are
required
to
had no titles. That is how the
attend
major
social
Commonwealth government
functions to which they
began to award the strictly
have been invited except if
honorary title of ‘Social General’
attendance interferes with
on these powerful, but
their duty, their unit’s
unclassifiable men and women.
function, poses a potential
Once titled, these social
health risk, or if the officer
generals soon won the right to
has already attended five
pass the honor on to their
other such functions in the
offspring. Soon these social
space of four weeks.
generals also demanded the
Section 57, subgraph
outer trappings of a real
D. On the limits placed on
general; for example, the
attendance of social
uniforms and ceremonial
functions: All senior officers
regalia of military men. In the
are limited to the
meantime, the social generals
attendance of just two
often insinuated themselves
social functions without
into contact with the actual
invitation per month.
military, who picked up from
Violations will be reported
them a taste for high culture
directly
to
their
and high society. Though the
commanding
officer,
who
government tried to halt the
will decide if punishment,
social generals’ inroads into the
which
includes
the
real military, by the time the title
forfeiture
of
two
months’
was abolished in the 29th
pay, is required.
century, the damage had been
—From The
done. Since then, to be a senior
Brandenberg Edicts of
officer has carried with it
2413 (Lyran
considerable social standing as
Commonwealth Armed
well as the expectation that he
Forces), Commonwealth
will be erudite, witty, cultured,
Military Press, 2414
and sophisticated. The result is
that many senior officers in the
Commonwealth military are
often as worried about the high arts as they are about the art of
war.
THE RELUCTANT ARCHON
Perhaps the mocking performance of Hamlet given
by the Royal Arcturan Shakespearean Players had truly
pricked the conscience of the generals because they did
not form a military junta or elect one of their own as
Archon, as most people were expecting. Instead, they
drafted Alistair Marsden, Robert’s younger brother, as their
choice for the Archonship. Till then, he had been content enough
with his life as a mere junior officer in a tank brigade. It took a
good bit of persuading, but the generals eventually convinced
Marsden to take on the mantle of Archon, and the Estates General
to confirm the accession. Though at first a reluctant leader, Alistair
Marsden would eventually earn his place in history as the father
of the modern Lyran Commonwealth.
On November 10, 2395, he assumed the throne. The military
may have chosen him, but Marsden soon proved that he was his
own man. Like his brother, he understood that by fostering
economic growth he would forge the bonds he needed with the
Lyran people. Gathering together the most competent advisors
available, he had soon established productive trade policies with
neighboring Terran Hegemony member-states, reorganized the
banking system, and created regional stock exchanges that
encouraged economic speculation and investment.
In 2398, news reached the Commonwealth capital on
Arcturus about a major war that had just erupted between the
Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation. Archon
Alistair sensed that the winds of war would soon be blowing in
the Commonwealth’s direction and so he immediately ordered a
major military buildup. This sudden burst of military activity caught
even the generals of the High Command by surprise and set
them wondering what manner of man they had placed upon the
throne.
The next nine years were tense for the Lyran Commonwealth.
Situated between a realm at war and another realm with bellicose
tendencies, the people of the Commonwealth realized war was
a real possibility for them. Most of the public saw Archon Alistair’s
arms buildup as a prudent move.
On the first of January, 2407, House Kurita forces attacked
and overwhelmed the Lyran defenders of a small border region
running along the joint between the former Tamar and Skye
defense pacts. The attackers poured through the rift and pushed
for the Commonwealth capital of Arcturus, but this proved to be
only a diversion. The actual Kurita plan was to lunge first at
Arcturus, then swing their invasion force toward Terra. A second
invasion force, launched a year later, would push through the
Kessel section of the border and drive deep into the
Commonwealth. The Kurita hope was that the two prongs of their
attack would then meet to take a whole section of the Federation
of Skye with its dragon’s grasp.
The Commonwealth military was reeling. In a desperate
attempt to halt the advancing enemy, they resorted to a scorchedearth policy of deliberately destroying their own lands so that
they could give no aid to the advancing enemy. The tactic was
only marginally effective and slowed the Kurita advance just
slightly.
The inability of his better-equipped military to halt House
Kurita infuriated the Archon, who dismissed the commanding
generals and personally assumed command of the defense.
Under his leadership, the Commonwealth forces rallied. It was
on the planet Morningside that they finally managed to fight House
Kurita to a bloody standstill.
OH, GIVE ME A HOME
The storm, which is expected within four
hours, will bring winds of more than 60
kilometers per hour and will deposit at least a
meter of snow. The temperatures will be mild,
with the highs an expected -35° C in New
Olympia and a -30° C at Tharkad City.
Now, turning to the news. Construction
work for the capital city is proceeding despite
protests of the gazelle herders, who maintain
that the new city will block the animals’ freeroaming range. It is uncertain whether the talks
between the herders and the Commonwealth
government will reach any agreement within the
near future.
—From Late Night Tharkan News, New
Olympia Broadcasters, January 13, 2407
Though victory was sweet, the Lyrans did not forget that the
enemy was still within striking distance of their capital on Arcturus.
In September 2407, the Archon submitted a plan to move the
capital to his arctic homeworld of Tharkad. With some misgivings,
the Estates General approved the Archon’s plan. Tharkad City
officially became capital of the Lyran Commonwealth on
December 30th, 2407.
In addition to securing the government’s safety, this move
also helped to consolidate the Archon’s power. In this new
location, set deep within his peaceful Protectorate of Donegal,
the Archon would be reasonably near the rebellious Skye and
Tamar regions, yet removed enough to give him time to react to
crises. It also made the yearly assembly of the Estates General
a convenient pool of hostages that would protect him if the
situation ever warranted it.
Early in 2408, while brooding in the War Room of his palace
on Arcturus, Alistair Marsden suddenly had a flash of intuition
about Kurita’s next move. His hunch that the Combine was
planning to launch a second invasion that would link up with the
first, was, of course, accurate. Believing that Kurita would launch
this new offensive from Vega, the Archon assembled all his
reserves into one large strike force.
Like banshees, the Commonwealth AeroSpace Fighters,
transport craft, and VTOLs poured through the atmosphere of
Vega. Taken by surprise, the Kurita defenders could muster only
a piecemeal defense. The Lyrans attacked the huge stockpiles
of equipment, ammunition, and other supplies that were to have
been used for the second Kurita offensive. The Vega Strike, as it
came to be known, was a complete success and forced House
Kurita to postpone its second invasion. This was the first largescale victory for the Commonwealth.
THE FIRST STEINER
As much as Lyran historians respect the Marsden
family as founders of the Commonwealth, they reserve
their true affection (and animosity) for the Steiner dynasty,
and particularly its founder, Katherine Steiner. Then, as
now, she represents many of the ideals that the Lyrans
hold dear: courage, determination, shrewdness, and
respect for the emotions.
Katherine Steiner was 32 years old when she met Alistair
Marsden. She was an associate professor of military history at
Tharkad University, hired by the high command to give briefings
on the military tendencies of certain ethnic groups. Of GermanScandinavian ancestry, she was a tall, beautiful, athletic-looking
woman with blond hair and deep blue eyes. (Many believe that
the current Archon, Katrina Steiner, bears an eerie likeness to
her famous ancestor.)
Alistair Marsden met Katherine Steiner in 2399, when she
gave a lecture before the high command on the subject of
personal honor among Japanese peoples. Their friendship
deepened quickly as they realized their many common interests.
As news of the affair became public, the press hounded Katherine
for photographs and comments, but she handled the sudden
limelight with calm, courtesy, and confidence. Little did these
reporters realize that they were getting their first a glimpse of a
woman who would one day be among the Commonwealth’s
greatest rulers.
EULOGY
The loss to my heart and soul is beyond my ability to
comprehend. I live, I breathe, yet I do not feel beyond the
cold numbness that drapes my body like a shroud.
How briefly was I allowed to feast my eyes on his
smile, to listen to laughter, to know the scent of his golden
skin. So few short, short days during which my body knew
the sweet touch of his. If only had I had foreseen how
brief was to be my allotment of joy, for I would have made
each second a year’s worth of love.
See how war has mangled my pleasure and delight!
Now all is gray and the air I breathe seems tainted with
the odor of melting metal and burning flesh. Look well
upon this, the true results of a war. See how war has
mangled my pleasure and delight!
My passion lies within that cold casket, and I am as
doomed as shades of lost Tharkan hunters who forever
wander the frozen forest in search of a fire to warm their
eternal cold. The rest of my life will be one long winter,
with only my child to provide some sparks of warmth.
Though I secretly rage against my fate, I know that
the loss to the Commonwealth is even greater than my
own.
And, yes, what of the Commonwealth now? The
question lies like a shroud over our worlds. What of the
Commonwealth?
—From Katherine Steiner’s Eulogy for Alistair
Marsden, Commonwealth Press, 2409
The marriage between the Archon and this tall Nordic
beauty occurred in the early spring of 2405 on Tharkad.
The event was celebrated all over the Commonwealth,
with many worlds using the wedding as an ex use to forget
the war for a time. Like a magic spell, he marriage
coincided with a lull in the fighting. Unfortunately, the
magic could not last, and so when House Kurita renewed
its offensive, the Archon was forced to leave Tharkad for the
front. He left the responsibility for overseeing the construction of
the new capital to his now-pregnant wife, who gave birth a few
months later, in early 2407.
In January of 2408, on the arid world of Menkent, Archon
Alistair Marsden was killed while leading a tank regiment against
a heavily fortified position. The entire Commonwealth went into
shocked mourning at the news. A heavy pall of grief lay over the
capital as the whole city awaited the return of its slain Archon. In
a poignant funeral ceremony, Katherine Steiner passionately
eulogized her husband and helped to set his coffin beneath the
floor directly in front of the throne. In her black fur robes, she
was a tragic figure but as beautiful as ever.
BIRTH OF A DYNASTY
Two months later, Katherine Marsden stood at the
foot of her husband’s throne and officially changed her
own and her son’s surname back to Steiner. Before any
could ponder the significance of this announcement,
Katherine Steiner proclaimed that she was assuming the
Archonship and that her young son, Alistair Marsden
Steiner, would be the Archon-Designate. Among the shocked
whispers, the first of the dynastic Steiners walked to the dais
and calmly sat down upon the Archon’s throne.
Still numb, the government temporarily accepted Katherine
Steiner for several months before opposition to her rule began to
surface. Early the next year, four relatives of the late Archon had
stepped forward, proclaiming their right to the throne. Of all these,
the only serious threat to Katherine was Timothy Marsden, uncle
of the late Archon. Katherine, meanwhile, had given control of
the military to Duke Reynolds of Fatima, the late Archon’s secondin-command, and had sent him to Meachem, where the Duke
successfully routed the Kurita forces off the world.
Back on Tharkad, the leaders of the Tamar and Skye regions
realized that they held the key to determining who would become
the next Archon. Being men of much political experience, they
knew that the common people wanted to see an orderly and
peaceful succession from within the Marsden family. This meant
that neither the Tamar nor Skye leader could make a play for the
Archonship at the moment, but that their support of Katherine
would win back some of the power the Commonwealth
government had lately usurped, as well as avert a civil war.
DUKES
The early military of the Commonwealth was far
more chaotic than today’s fighting force. The main
reason for this lack of effectiveness was that the
regiments sent by a member world were semiindependent and not legally bound to obey the orders
of Commonwealth military leaders. To compound the
problem, these contingents were often commanded by
political leaders from the homeworld, whose skills as
military commanders varied widely.
In an attempt to stop the potential splintering of
the Commonwealth military, the government created
the title of Duke. This title, along with a substantial cash
advance, was bestowed on the leader of each
contingent, and a Commonwealth officer was appointed
as the new Duke’s second in command. This plan
bolstered the egos and pocketbooks of these politicos,
yet gave the Commonwealth vital control of their armies.
Other titles, such as Count and Baron, were created
by the Commonwealth government for similar reasons.
This practice continued until the reshuffling of the
Commonwealth military by the Brandenberg Edicts of
2413.
These titles were not inherited and gave few of the
privileges that nobility confers today. Use of titles did,
however, reintroduce the idea of nobility to the
Commonwealth public, making it easier for the Steiner
family to begin bestowing true hereditary titles.
—Encyclopedia Res Publica, Thelos Auburn, ed.,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
The two visited both Timothy Marsden and Katherine
Steiner. To each one, the regional leaders offered their
support in exchange for a greater say in the policy-making
decisions of the Commonwealth. Timothy Marsden
balked, claiming that the Archon was supreme ruler over
the realm. The shrewd Katherine Steiner immediately
agreed.
In April 2408, Katherine Steiner stood before the assembled
nobility and Representatives of the Estates General, to be officially
recognized as Archon Basileus by the leaders of the Tamar Pact
and the Federation of Skye. Though this assured her right to
rule, Katherine still wanted to tighten her hold upon the throne.
Gazing about those gathered in the throne room, she drew
herself up to her full regal height as she prepared to speak. With
great solemnity, she then announced the formation of the
Commonwealth Council, in which eight of the most wise and
worthy would advise her in governing the vast Commonwealth.
Not surprisingly, the Dukes of Tamar and Skye were among the
advisors named.
She then went on to announce changes in the
Commonwealth’s military command structure. The Duke of Fatima
would retain command of all forces facing the Draconis Combine,
but Timothy Marsden would now become a general in command
of the forces along the border with the Free Worlds League. Many
of her supporters were shocked by this unexpected action, not
to mention the promotion to active-duty posts of just about
everyone who had opposed her. Her reasons for dealing with
political enemies in such an unusual manner became clear only
much later.
After calling for her young son, Archon Katherine announced
a special session of the Estates General. Its purpose was to
reduce the red tape that restricted trade between the various
provinces of the Commonwealth, a major stumbling block to the
realm’s economic growth. When a nurse brought young Alistair
into the Throne Room, the assembly could see that the toddler
was dressed in a tiny officer’s uniform as he smiled in his mother’s
arms. Katherine’s next words expressed the hope that the
Commonwealth would now become a peaceful realm where her
son might play at being a soldier but never have to grow up to be
one.
The sight of the beautiful mother, the child in her arms, and
her vision of a peaceful Commonwealth stirred the hearts of
almost everyone. Indeed, it had been a masterful manipulation
of their emotion. Videotapes of the event were distributed
throughout the Commonwealth, and Katherine’s popularity among
the common people grew by leaps and bounds. Her
Commonwealth Council appeased the leaders of the Tamar Pact,
the Federation of Skye, and the rest of the nobility. It also gave
her the advantage of having a group of advisors who could take
the blame for unpopular decisions. All in all, her first official actions
laid the groundwork for complete control over her government,
which she was fast shaping into the form we know today.
As for promoting all her potential enemies, the motive
became clear when Archon Katherine co-signed the Ares
Conventions in 2412. These agreements ‘civilized’ warfare by
providing for protection of civilian populations, prisoner
exchanges, and other attempts at more humane forms of combat.
With armed conflict between member-states of the Hegemony
now an almost constant occurrence along all fronts, by 2414,
most who had challenged Katherine Steiner’s right to rule were
either dead or captured (with the Commonwealth in no great
hurry to ransom them). Timothy Marsden was the first to go. Within
a year of his posting to command over the border with the Free
Worlds League, he was killed in battle.
EARLY STEINER ARCHONS
STEINER FAMILY BACKGROUND
In times of great danger, the best person for any job
that gives life and death power over the people is usually
the one trying his damnedest not to be chosen.
—From Fighting for the Commonwealth: A Biography of
General Edward Regis, by Eckrick Zola, Strunk Publishers, 3025
To discern patterns of personality or character among the
members of a family stretching back at least a thousand years
may be an impossible task. If any information at all can be
gleaned, however, the effort is worth it.
The earliest known reference to the Steiner family from which
we believe the Archons are descended places the group in the
Schleswig-Holstein state of West Germany in the late 20th
century. Some documents from the period suggest (but do not
prove) that the family adopted the Steiner name to escape from
East Germany, which was then controlled by the Soviet Union.
In West Germany, the Steiners soon established themselves
in the field of computers and information services. Few seemed
politically inclined, with only an Eva Steiner rising to become a
local leader of the Green Party, a liberal, antimilitaristic group of
the period. Otherwise, there is little to suggest that the Steiner
family would one day rule the richest of the Successor States in
an era of continuous war. Indeed, the whole line tended to be
bookish, politically apathetic people until Katherine Steiner
suddenly burst on the scene.
The Steiner family has always been a close-knit unit, with
their devotion to one another often bordering on the fanatical. In
the later half of the 21st century, for example, there is a record of
five Steiner brothers who each confessed to a murder that none
had actually committed. Though no Steiner was actually guilty,
the brothers all believed that one of them was and could not
bear the thought of seeing him behind bars.
Another important characteristic is the emphasis on
education. Most Steiners have received at least a university
education, and many went on to collect advanced degrees. It
was a natural progression from their love of learning that made
many Steiners either skilled educators or authors. One of the
most curious family traditions required that the eldest female teach
the sons and daughters of other family members to speak
German.
This matriarch was also a storyteller, who amused the
younger family members with tales of family history as well as
with folk and fairy stories. The perhaps unconscious purpose of
all these stories was to instill the youngsters with values such as
pride in family, loyalty to family, the virtuous life and a respect for
the rights of women. This heritage probably explains why many
Steiner women have held onto their family name in marriage and
often attempted to give that name to their children.
This attitude was as unusual on old Terra as it is now, but
perhaps we may find a clue in a fragment of one of the Steiner
family stories. It is a tale of a coastal town threatened by the
seaward approach of Vikings, ancient barbarians from the Nordic
countries. Though it would be hours before the Viking boats were
close enough to spot their village, the people were afraid because
most of their men had been conscripted to fight elsewhere, leaving
only a few of the old ones. Croatelle Steiner, wife of the village
elder, organized the other women to prop up scarecrows at the
water’s edge and to dress them in bits of shiny metal. As the
Viking ships approached the village, they decided not to
attack because they believed the men of the village were
waiting for them, armed with weapons that flashed in the
sunlight. When the men of the village eventually learned
what had happened, Croatelle’s husband handed over
to her his rank as elder. Not only had she saved the village,
but she had done it without harm coming to anyone.
Whether this story is truth or fiction is unknown. What matters
is that the Steiners accept it as true and have taken care to hand
it down from one generation to the next. It has laid the foundation
for the Steiner belief that it is a person’s deeds that determine
worth, not his or her gender, race, class, or even sexual
preference.
The Steiner family is a healthy line, with a tendency to highblood pressure their only inherited concern. They also tend to be
above-average in height. Mentally, however, the family suffers
from Dobrowski’s Depression-A Syndrome, a genetic
predisposition to severe mental depression. Though it can usually
be controlled by medication, certain family members have been
afflicted to the extent that no help was possible. Simon Steiner
was the family’s most famous victim of uncontrollable DepressionA Syndrome. Though he was in line to be Archon-Designate, his
mental illness deprived him of the right of succession.
This syndrome might also explain the high number of artists
in the family and their fascination with dreary worlds like Gallery,
with its wild and desolate landscape.
STEINER LITERATURE
Smoke still wreathed the trees. In the red light of
the setting sun, the plumes looked like the arms of men
and women, upflung in terror. Moving slowly through
the forest’s remains, the horse periodically snorted at
the sudden snap of embers and the tongues of fire
that still licked up from every hollow. Or were they the
burning eyes of devils?
It was getting dark and the people back at the inn
had warned Emily to find the safety of the castle before
the first star shone.
—From Castle Maltra, attributed to Jennifer Steiner,
Velcro Fly Publishers, 2760
THE STEINER WAY
Having cleared away all major opposition to her rule and
with the Lyran borders relatively quiet except for skirmishing,
Katherine Steiner now turned her sights to the interior of her
realm.
First, she moved to rebuild the war damage by offering
interest-free loans to damaged industries. In return, these newly
reopened firms would sell Katherine some of their company stock.
Though many of the corporations lay well within the war zone,
the smell of profits outweighed the risks.
This loan policy also gave Katherine Steiner access to the inner
sanctum of many major Lyran companies. Though it is illegal for the
Archon to interfere with the operations of business in the
Commonwealth, he does have considerable informal power, and uses
it on occasion. In one instance, Archon Katherine suddenly dumped
her economic share of the Trellshire Steel Company, because of some
difference of opinion. Other major Lyran corporations followed suit by
taking their business elsewhere not wanting to risk having the Archon’s
wrath become focused on them.
Another important development during the first years
of Katherine Steiner’s rule was the creation of the
Commonwealth Scout Corps in 2413. Using specially
adapted JumpShips, scouts traveled to unexplored star
systems, where they were dropped down to study whether
the biosphere of any of the planets was either habitable
or suitable for exploitation. After carrying out their studies,
the scouts rendezvoused with their JumpShip and later reported
back directly to the Archon.
It was for her to decide how to handle habitable worlds. Often,
she simply took control of them. Sometimes, she bestowed an
entire planet and dukedom over it to those who had been
especially loyal to her. This helped strengthen the trend toward
the creation of a modern nobility. After awarding these new worlds,
Katherine often created incentive programs to stimulate
immigration from the overcrowded worlds of the Federation to
the underpopulated worlds near the Periphery.
After nearly eight years in mourning, the Archon accepted
the wedding proposal of Deven Reynolds, Duke of Fatima. Their
elaborate wedding was conducted in the magnificent Notre Dame
Cathedral on Fatima in 2414. Though Katherine Steiner soon
gave birth to Michael Reynolds, the child’s father had signed an
agreement that the boy would never have any claim to the throne.
Though there is no explanation for this puzzling point, it would
later prove to be a costly error. Almost as though it were an evil
omen, the resource-rich world of St. Johns fell to House Kurita at
this time.
That planet’s importance forced the Commonwealth to
undertake a major offensive led by Duke Reynolds to retake St.
John. When the offensive failed miserably, it sparked discontent
and criticism of the Archon among the delegates in Government
House, their place of assembly. The mutterings of the
Representatives soon became a movement calling for the
resignation of Katherine Steiner. To build public support, the
Representatives decided to force the issue by making a public
demand that the Archon step down.
To stem the rising tide of criticism of her political and military
decisions, Katherine had to act. Before the Representatives’
message could be transmitted to the media, she had all copies
of the demand seized. She then sent heavily armed Royal Guards
into Government House to “protect the esteemed Representatives
from a possible threat if the Archon’s loyal subjects learned of
their recent inflammatory statements”. The contents of their
demand eventually leaked anyway, but the public viewed it as
merely one more political squabble.
The next year, Duke Reynolds was killed leading another
attempt to retake St. John. The whole court went into mourning
with the twice-widowed Archon, who had the doors of the Royal
Court draped in black and hung with flowered wreaths. For a
whole year, those massive doors remained thus draped and firmly
locked. As Katherine went about the business of ruling the
Commonwealth, with courage and a quiet determination to carry
on, it endeared her permanently to the average citizen of the
realm. The people’s love for her burned steadily throughout the
remainder of her 37-year reign as the first Steiner Archon.
THE BATTLEMECH ERA
The next 20 years of Katherine Steiner’s rule were
characterized by innovations and revisions of almost
every facet of the Commonwealth government. Because
she patiently and willingly explained her plans to the
nobility and the Representatives before signing them into
law, the majority of her changes met no opposition.
Katherine’s most sweeping reform was the issuance of the
Brandenberg Edicts, which completely reshaped the
Commonwealth military, altering everything from its rank system
to its relationship to her government. Though the Edicts went a
long way toward streamlining the military, it did little to upgrade
the poor performance of its senior officers.
In 2439, the Terran Hegemony first used the recently
developed new weapon known as the BattleMech. Based on
WorkMechs and the genius of various research groups, the MCK5S Mackie easily outclassed any weapon that any member-state
could put on the field. Huge industrial complexes geared to the
assembly of BattleMechs were built in several key locations
throughout the Hegemony. To guard the highly secret operations
of these factories, they were staffed by only the most trusted
workers from the Hegemony and security was beefed up to the
maximum. The physical appearance of a ‘Mech was also a closely
guarded secret, and so many were disguised with false body
panels to prevent spies from even observing one of the metal
behemoths. One of these BattleMech factory complexes was built
on Hesperus II.
The Archon immediately ordered the Lyran Intelligence Corps
to infiltrate the Hesperus plant and to steal any information
possible on the Mackie. After six years of trying, the LIC never
managed to get more than one agent into the plant, and then the
most he could get was a map of the facility and a few vague
observations on the construction of BattleMechs. By this time,
Katherine’s son Alistair Steiner was an officer in the LCAF and
commander of an elite commando unit. Though he had devised
a daring raid to seize information directly from the factory’s
computers, his unit was suddenly called elsewhere.
In 2445, after 37 years of ruling the Lyran Commonwealth,
Katherine Marsden Steiner stepped down. Because of failing
health, she had decided to spend the rest of her days without
the heavy cares of government. It was a memorable moment in
Commonwealth history when the aging Katherine, still regal and
proud, rose from her throne and bade her son sit in her place.
She removed the ornate gold chain that signified her position as
leader of the Commonwealth and unpinned her insignia as
Commander of the LCAF. She then placed the chain about her
son’s neck, pinned the insignia to his uniform, and gently kissed
his forehead. The transfer of power complete, Katherine Steiner
left the Throne Room to the thunderous applause of the nobles
and politicians gathered. She spent the rest of her days on her
estate on Gallery, writing her memoirs and riding in the planet’s
dark forest.
OPERATION PROMETHEUS
THE STEINER FIST
The origin of the Steiner Fist as symbol of the Lyran
Commonwealth is, fortunately for historians, well
documented.
When the Russian Civil Wars erupted in 2011, Poland
openly revolted against the Soviet political system that had
oppressed it for 60 years. As a sign of their revolution, the
Poles adopted the upraised, clenched fist as their symbol. It
appeared on flags and on the armbands of soldiers, and
was painted on the sides of vehicles of the Polish
revolutionary army. Soviet troops brutally put down the
popular uprising.
The Russian Civil Wars still raged, however, threatening
to destroy the entire world in a nuclear Armageddon. NATO
decided to step in by sending its own troops to end the
fighting. Many of the soldiers, particularly armored vehicle
crews, began to adopt variations of the Polish Fist in
sympathy for the Polish people. Among the West German
forces sent into Poland were five members of the Steiner
family, all of whom had adorned their vehicles with the raised
fist. The Steiner family apparently took the symbol to heart
because it has remained with them ever since, whether as a
business symbol, as an emblem painted on the side of a
racing car, or as the design for jewelry worn by the Steiner
women.
It was about the time of the Exodus that every family
member began to wear the fist symbol on rings or pendants.
The family elders wear a Steiner Fist fashioned from blue
and gold gems as a symbol of respect at the frequent family
gatherings. The chain became a symbol of the Archon’s
power when Katherine Steiner gave it to her son to wear
upon her retirement.
On taking the throne, Katherine had originally intended
that the Steiner Fist become a symbol only of the military,
while the three-stringed lyre would continue to represent
the Lyran Commonwealth. As the wars continued, the
peaceful lyre no longer seemed appropriate, and so the
defiant Steiner Fist was soon appearing as the realm’s battlestandard. It was in the last year of her reign that Katherine
Steiner bowed to her son’s wishes that the Steiner Fist
become the official emblem of the Lyran Commonwealth.
—From Commonwealth Symbols: Insights Through the
Icons, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press,
3000
The transfer of power from Katherine to Alistair went
smoothly, except for the single major instance of
opposition on the planet Fatima. There, rioting students
attacked the Commonwealth embassy and the
Commonwealth’s civil service offices because they were
angry that the Archon’s eldest son Michael had been
appointed Archon-Designate instead of Duke Michael Reynolds,
Alistair’s own half-brother. Because Alistair loved and trusted his
half-brother, he chalked up the incident to the actions of a few
anarchists or perhaps Kurita agitators. As for Duke Reynolds, he
was happy enough governing his own world. As a result, the
Archon dismissed the riot as a minor incident, never dreaming
how dire would be its consequences.
Militarily, the Commonwealth had suffered many defeats and
was continuing to lose territory. By 2445, one-fifth of the Tamar
Pact had fallen to the Draconis Combine. The Free Worlds League
had also taken over a significant but smaller number of
Commonwealth worlds. As before, these losses were the result
of incompetent or unimaginative leadership among the Steiner
Senior officers.
Frustrated at this pattern of defeat, Alistair decided to revive
his plan to raid the Terran Hegemony’s BattleMech facilities at
Hesperus II. He updated the plan, gathered 25 of the best special
forces soldiers he could find, and equipped them with supplies
and all possible information. Their leader was Colonel Simon
Kelswa, a skilled veteran. After they had spent five months of
training and rehearsing, the Archon had the commandos secretly
transported to Hesperus II.
On February 7, 2455, Colonel Kelswa received a
communiqué that read, “Prometheus unbound. Good hunting”.
That night, a large transport rose from a spaceport near the
Hesperus ‘Mech factories. No one paid it much attention until a
tremendous explosion echoed across the night sky and a huge
flame spouted from the right side of the transport. The ship
shuddered, slowed, and lurched off course. As sirens began to
scream, workers in the factory realized that the transport, now
failing fast, was about to crash somewhere nearby.
By the time the transport crashed in the center of the factory
complex, the entire facility had been evacuated. What the fleeing
workers did not see as they rushed from the scene was the
suspiciously controlled firing of the ship’s engines and the
gentleness with which the huge ship touched down.
When the hatches of the transport opened, Kelswa’s
commandos calmly disembarked and headed for the abandoned
computer building. By the time anybody realized that this wrecked
transport and the famed Trojan Horse had something in common,
the commando team had found the factory’s main design
computers and was breaking the security codes.
One brave factory guard did attempt to enter the transport,
which automatically set off an explosion that destroyed both man
and ship. The blast also killed many now curious workers who
had approached for a better look. Protected from the blast by
intervening buildings, the commandos managed to copy 90
percent of the information in the computers. With great aplomb,
the team then slipped unnoticed amid the chaos of burning
buildings and debris. Mission accomplished, they hiked the
kilometer back to the spaceport, where another transport awaited
them. When they returned to Tharkad, the elated Archon rewarded
them with typical Steiner generosity.
THE BLOODTHIRSTY GENERAL
That same year, General Geralk Marik of the Free
Worlds League began an offensive against the
Commonwealth with the aim of capturing Alula Australis
and Bella I. The general’s tactics were brutal, soon earning
him the hate of every Lyran. To break the final resistance
of the defending forces, he used continuous artillery
barrages and bombings that allowed massed armor to move in
and mow down anything in its path. Geralk Marik considered the
sanitized war of the Ares Conventions a farce; anyone living on
an enemy planet was an enemy to be shot.
Six months after the opening battles of the offensive, the
general took Alula Australis. Only five more months passed before
he had also conquered Bella I. In both cases, the Lyrans suffered
casualties that were astronomically higher than normal in this
era of the Ares Convention and its near bloodless, chess-like
battles. The public was soon calling General Marik “The
Bloodthirsty Giant”.
Elated by his success, General Marik decided to expand his
campaign. He managed to establish a beachhead on the planet
Loric, but soon ran into a stiff and well-led planetary defense.
Marik now found himself embroiled in a campaign that dragged
on through three years of maneuvering over the Loric’s surface.
In an attempt to draw out the defenders for one last decisive
battle, he condoned many atrocities. During these years of almost
constant fighting on Loric, Commonwealth weapons factories
were frantically retooling.
Early in 2459, General Marik planned yet another offensive
aimed at crushing the resistance of the Commonwealth
defenders, this time on Loric’s southern continent. In a fairly typical
attack, he planned to begin the artillery barrage at sunrise. When
reports from the front described huge monoliths defending the
enemy’s position, the general wrote them off as the imaginings
of battle-hyped troops. When the pre-dawn light revealed to him
a number of giant BattleMechs waiting like so many armored
towers, the Marik was stunned speechless. All he could do was
mutely signal the order to begin the barrage.
The first outpouring of artillery shells turned the air into a
rain of dirt. For a moment, the general almost believed that he
had succeeded in killing the giants, but as the dirt and smoke
cleared in the stiffening breeze, he saw it was otherwise. His
antipersonnel artillery had exploded properly against the armor
of the Lyran ‘Mechs, but had left barely a scratch.
With a rising sense of panic, the general ordered his armor
ahead and his artillery units to use armor-piercing shells. In
response, the BattleMechs came forward, too, to engage his tanks
with lasers, missiles, and particle beam weapons. Fifteen minutes
later, the field was strewn with a regiment’s worth of overturned
tank hulks, crushed remnants of missile barrage vehicles, and
just one Lyran ‘Mech.
Despite his own fear, neither retreat nor surrender entered
the general’s mind. Ordering in the last of his reserves, he sought
to bring his armed troopships down to add to his artillery. The
combined ferocity of the Marik infantry, the armor-piercing shells,
the aircraft, and laser blasts from the whale-like troopships
managed to slow the Lyran BattleMechs, but it did not stop them.
Seven hours later, in the blazing heat of the noonday sun, the
commander of the Lyran ‘Mech company broadcast his demand
for General Marik’s surrender. The general refused, preferring
an honorable death.
He did die, but not honorably. General Geralk Marik, The
Bloodthirsty Giant who had ruthlessly killed so many Lyran
soldiers and civilians, was crushed beneath the heel of a Lyran
BattleMech.
LYRAN MILITARY SUPERIORITY
The news of the ‘Mech action on Loric spread
throughout the Terran Hegemony. The government of the
Hegemony reacted to the proof of the Commonwealth’ s
guilt in the Hesperus raid by slapping a ban on the sale
of Hegemony high-tech parts to the Lyrans. Most people
realized that this punishment was little more than “barring
the barn door after the horse had already bolted”, as one rural
Terran politician said. The general quality of the Lyran ‘Mechs
was lower than that of the Terran ‘Mechs because the Lyran
engineers and technicians had made several compromises to
speed up production and to get ‘Mechs actually out on the field.
These differences were only minor, however, which meant
that Terra was no longer the undisputed military power among
the ten member-states of the Hegemony. Many historians later
pointed to the appearance of Lyran ‘Mechs as Terra’s evolution
to the role of mediator, rather than ruler among the memberstates.
Soon it was the Lyran Commonwealth’s turn to feel the sting
of embarrassment. In 2461, agents of the Draconis Combine
broke into the BattleMech plant on Coventry, making off with
detailed plans for ‘Mechs. The next year, some disgruntled
employees of the BattleMech plant on Alarion escaped to the
Free Worlds League with an equally complete set of plans. In
both cases, the security staff in charge of guarding the precious
secrets were tried and found guilty of treason through inaction.
They were imprisoned for life. The infuriated Archon even had
several of them executed.
The high command now came before Alistair with a rather
dismal picture. Within five or six years, the enemies of the
Commonwealth would be fielding their own BattleMech regiments.
After suffering so much military humiliation, the Commonwealth
military was not going to be able to enjoy its current superiority
for much longer. Hearing this, the Archon decided that he must
use this superiority while it lasted to attempt to retake some of
the many worlds the Lyrans had lost. He ordered the BattleMech
factories expanded and his researchers to redouble their efforts
to improve current ‘Mechs and to design new ones. He also
informed his commanding generals that they had three months
to plan a major military campaign.
In the period 2463-2468, the Lyrans launched their single
most ambitious offensive, which historians now refer to as the
Long March. One thrust was into the Draconis Combine, heading
in the direction of St. John. Once the Kurita forces moved to
protect St. John, the Commonwealth forces would then veer
toward the worlds of Nox, Skondia, Trolloc Prime, and Caldrea.
The other invasion would enter the Free Worlds League and
attempt to retake Bella I, Cavanaugh II, and Alula Australis.
LONG MARCH, HARD MARCH
The Lyran offensive got off to an inauspicious start. Two
Commonwealth JumpShips, LCS Stringfire and LCS Evereft, each
with three battalions of solders and equipment, failed to maintain
proper distancing before their jump. Horrified, thousands in other
ships watched the frantic efforts of the two ships to move apart.
As their jump drives began interacting with one another, the two
ships became wrapped in a huge distortion that literally turned
them inside out before they disappeared. Except for some metal
scrap or other grisly junk of debris, not much remained of either
ship at their destination.
JUMP
Michael Steiner’s excitement built as he looked
over the pilot’s shoulder and saw the combat JumpShip
LCS SpellSinger dead ahead. No longer just a dot on a
computer screen, the SpellSinger was like an umbrella
of silver light against the velvety black of deep space.
The solar parasol stretched a mind-boggling five kilometers
in diameter and collected sunlight to power the jump drive.
As his DropShip drew closer, Michael could discern
some of the feverish activity that was occurring on the
JumpShip. Sail-riggers, those tiny, remote-controlled robots,
were just starting to gather and fold the sail for the jump. A
DropShip, Union Class by the looks of it, was in the last
stages of docking; the flickering specks of light about it were
the thrust of massive maneuver rockets. Michael could see
the jaws of the JumpShip’s capture mechanism reaching up
to seize the DropShip.
From the corner of his eye, Michael Steiner saw another
JumpShip, the LCS Firewalker. This one did not resemble
an umbrella, however, but looked like a proper ship ready to
blast out of the system in a blaze of exhaust light. Such was
the popular myth about JumpShips. Instead, the Firewalker
seemed slowly to dissolve before Michael Steiner’s eyes as
it made its jump.
He was well familiar with the experience of jump, but
still hated it with a passion. There was always that queasiness
at the pit of his stomach while his senses told him that reality
was dissolving. Many men couldn’t handle the strain. Some
came out of a jump screaming about seeing the ship vanish
about them, leaving them to contemplate infinity and the
like. Michael Steiner could handle a jump; he only needed to
puke his guts out a few times afterward to recover.
—From Michael Steiner, Archon.by Gerilia Dotra-Steiner,
Pittsburg Press, 2532
The tragic loss of the ships and the many hundreds
on board made the first battles of the Commonwealth
offensive very difficult. Not only did the loss of the
battalions add to the combat responsibilities of the
remaining units, but the loss of so many friends in such a
gruesome accident haunted the men and women of the
offensive. They maintained their discipline, however, and
the Steiner ‘Mechs easily pushed aside Kurita garrison troops.
After six months of fighting on mainly empty Kurita border
worlds, the commanding officers of the Commonwealth forces
confirmed that their feint toward St. John had worked. House
Kurita was heavily fortifying worlds that they thought stood in the
way of the Commonwealth advance, leaving other worlds less
well-protected. Now the Commonwealth invasion force could turn
and pounce upon its initial prime objective, the planet Skondia.
Valued for its deposits of major rare metals, Skondia was
one world that the Commonwealth wanted to seize and keep.
After dropping onto the lightly garrisoned planet, the Steiner force
soon conquered it. Their next Kurita target was the planet Nox,
with its many gem deposits. There, the Lyrans met tougher
resistance, but their ‘Mechs again proved to be too much and
the planet fell.
The next planet in line for attack was Caldrea. By this time,
the attack force had been in action for four years and fatigue was
showing on both men and machinery. Though many troops
returned home and fresh troops took their place, it was not enough
to counter the fierce defense they met on Caldrea. When the
Lyran commanders learned that the planet’s northern continent
was a virtual maze of mountain ranges honeycombed with
defensive positions and traps, the weary generals reverted to
the barbaric use of nuclear weapons to clear the mountains. In
nine months, the planet was the property of the Commonwealth,
though no one knew what use they would make of this halfdevastated planet.
On the other front, matters were much the same. Cavanaugh
and Bella I fell with little difficulty. When it came to taking Alula
Australis, the Lyrans found that the Free Worlds League had
anticipated them and had dug in for the attack. Even a steady
onslaught of Commonwealth ‘Mechs could not dislodge the
enemy.
Whatever satisfaction the tired soldiers of the Commonwealth
might have felt in these offensives suddenly evaporated when
news reached them that Archon Alistair Steiner had been
assassinated.
AGONY OF DEFEAT
It was to be the last attempt. The Kurita stronghold
that guarded the Kelli Pass had held up Colonel Yoller’s
forces for three days. Now the 23rd BattleMech Battalion
found itself days and kilometers behind the rest of the
Commonwealth forces, endangering the entire
operation. Yoller’s commanding officers were not very
pleased.
The stronghold, now dubbed “The Cassino” after a
similar mountain stronghold in Terra’s history, was a squat
concrete affair that stood high upon the mountain slope. It
had withstood continuous artillery bombardment, aerial
attacks, and three separate BattleMech charges. There was
now time for only more attack, and Colonel Yoller secretly
resolved to make it the last, no matter what.
The early morning air still had the night chill on it, and
the sun seemed to be having trouble finding its way amid
the rocks. For the fourth time, Colonel Yoller sent her heavy
company to charge the autocannons of the fortress. She
waited with her light ‘Mech company until she could see and
hear the battle between the fortress and her heavy ‘Mechs
commence. After her curt order to ‘go’, her jump-capable
‘Mechs went into action.
Instead of advancing to face the fortress, the ‘Mechs
vaulted on their jets up the mountain’s face. Colonel Yoller
smiled when she saw the fortress defenders trying to swing
their guns to shoot at her ‘Mechs leaping through the air.
With a sound like heavy thunder, those twelve behemoths
hit the slope of the mountain. Rocks groaned under the tons
of metal. Two ‘Mechs lost their footing and began an
uncontrollable slide back down the mountainside amid
loosened boulders. One of the unfortunates exploded at the
bottom when it landed too roughly on its jets. The other was
shot through the cockpit by some eagle-eyed gunner in the
Cassino.
Now above and to the side of the Cassino, Colonel Yoller
carefully moved her troops closer. The rocks kept slipping
from beneath the feet of their ‘Mechs, threatening to send
them all tumbling down. Still, Colonel Yoller felt euphoric-her
guess that the fortress could only shoot down into the pass
was confirmed by the fact that no gun ports broke through
the fortress’ smooth sides. There was only a large steel door,
and that was going to be Colonel Yoller’s way into the
stronghold.
All that remained was to reach the fortress, bash down
the door, and seize the defenders. Colonel Yoller wanted to
capture the Kurita soldiers in the fortress alive. She had
never been one who enjoyed killing for its own sake nor did
she want to have to fry them with one of those hellish tactical
nuclear bombs should their effort fail.
The Cassino was just in front of her now. Her ‘Mechs
ranged out on either side, their weapons at the ready. The
steel doors looked thick as she bent over in her ‘Mech for a
closer look.
Colonel Yoller felt rather than heard the first mine go off.
From somewhere behind her, an explosion sent shards of
stone and the fragments of a ‘Mech’s leg high into the air.
Twisting her ‘Mech’s head to see what the hell was
going on, she watched as more explosions left her
‘Mechs either crumpled on the mountainside or
tumbling down the slope. It had never occurred to her
that the defenders might mine the mountainside to
remotely detonate once she and her ‘Mech unit was
on it.
Uttering every curse she had ever learned, Yoller turned
her ‘Mech’s head back to the fortress door. With a shudder,
she saw that the snout of a large autocannon had been
pushed through a panel in the door. Jerking back, Yoller tried
to twist out of the way. Too late. The cannon belched and
she instantly lost her vision and hearing in a wave of pain as
her cockpit exploded. As her ‘Mech toppled to the ground,
her last thoughts were filled with pity for the soldiers in the
Cassino. Being fired on by a neutron bomb was a painful
way to go.
—From The Caldrea Debacle, by Timothy Asd, Green
Mountain Press, 2500
THE D ARK YEARS
The next 40 years would be remembered as one of
the darkest periods in the history of the Lyran
Commonwealth. In that time, it seemed as though the
virtues that had once been integral to both the
Commonwealth and to the Steiner dynasty had vanished,
throwing the entire realm into chaos. Those four decades began
with the assassination of Archon Alistair. As though that were
not enough, the years to come would be inflamed by a mystic
usurper, the thirst for vengeance, civil war, and the accession of
a bastard to the Lyran throne.
These and other crises seemed to follow one after another
in this period, making people feel they were choked with emotions
that had not been fully expressed before the next disaster reared
its head. Some worlds, especially those toward the Periphery,
grew apathetic, almost numb, to the continual upheaval in the
Steiner government. The first stirrings of active antiCommonwealth sentiment also began at this time. Other worlds,
spurred on by greedy noblemen and planetary governments,
decided that now was their chance to seize a greater role in
Commonwealth politics. Representatives and nobles from the
worlds of Skye, Tamar, Suk, Rahne, and others seized any
opportunity, at any risk, in their hunger for greater power. Some
of the political gamers in this terrible era even had designs on
the Archonship.
At first, the average citizen eagerly followed news reports of
doings in far off Tharkad, as these seemed more entertaining
than even the cleverest dramatist could create. The entertainment
value quickly faded, however, when someone watched a
representative of the LCAF in dress uniform come marching up
their street, a bearer of sad news. Thousands of sons and
daughters were still dying in what was left of a military offensive
that the government had long ago promised would be swift and
simple. No one knew when one day the bad news might be
delivered to their door.
BLOODLESS ROSES
Far, shining stars that cast your glow
Upon our upturned faces—
On which of you were our hopes so cruelly ended?
Toward which of you will our curses fly forever?
If only we could throw our flowers in the air
To fall upon your surface and revive
The roses in the cheeks of our now-still children,
The glow that meant their youth and joy, our comfort,
Like the flags of a loving army
That, prancing, marched about us not so long ago.
What bitter, bloodless roses we have planted
In these foreign soils: roses not to blossom
But to rot, in the harsh, dry winds of a world
Circling a shamed and heartless star far, far away.
—Anonymous, from Commonwealth Protest Poetry,
Rechele McQuiston, ed., Sunset Poetry Press, 2500
THE IRON FIST
If there is a weakness in how the Steiner
family rules, it is that they show too much
intelligence and imagination. Let something
happen to a Steiner Archon, whether it be an
assassination or the most mild but incapacitating
illness, and the entire realm comes to a
screeching halt. The Steiners might be good at
making others feel an important part of the
government, but don’t be fooled. They rule the
Commonwealth with an iron hand.
—Hervsas David, Political Advisor to Hanse
Davion, quoted in The Federated Suns/Lyran
Commonwealth Alliance: An Intelligence Report,
by ROM, ComStar, 3024
TRIAL OF DUKE REYNOLDS
Archon Alistair Steiner was assassinated in June 2467 when
five young people managed to penetrate his private bedchamber,
where they stabbed him repeatedly with knives fashioned from
Fatima Obsidian. After a long chase through the woods
surrounding the capital city, the police captured the assassins
alive. It was only after a relentless interrogation that they broke
down and admitted that Duke Reynolds of Fatima was behind
their plot.
Upon being recalled from the front lines, Michael and Steven
Steiner arrived in Tharkad City to find the entire government
paralyzed by shock and indecision.
Michael Steiner was sworn in as Archon, while his brother
assumed command of the military. As Archon, Michael now had
the disagreeable task of presiding over the trial of Duke Reynolds,
a man he had always loved and respected. Though the Duke
vehemently denied any knowledge of the assassination, evidence
brought forth at the trial was damning.
In his heart of hearts, Michael still believed Duke Reynolds
to be innocent, but the trial ended without producing one real
shred of evidence for the defense. In the first heat wave of what
turned out to be the hottest summer in the city’s history, Archon
Michael was forced to announce that the evidence showed Duke
Michael Reynolds guilty of Alistair Steiner’s death. Public reaction
to the verdict was mixed, with violent clashes breaking out
between groups loyal to either side.
Archon Michael was not satisfied. By severely bending the
laws protecting planetary sovereignty, he sent what amounted
to an invasion force of Lyran Intelligence agents to Fatima. Once
there, they set about investigating Duke Fatima’s past and the
lives of the assassins. Meanwhile, Archon Michael held off
sentencing the Duke, though everyone knew that death was the
only possible punishment for killing an Archon. For nine sweltering
weeks, the Archon stalled. Tensions only increased, with clashes
between those supporting the Duke and those who wanted him
dead becoming more and more frequent.
Late in the summer, when the Archon had just about given
up hope, members of the LIC returned with irrefutable proof of
the Duke’s innocence. They had learned that Graf DeSimon, a
nobleman under Duke Reynolds, had managed to brainwash
some idealistic but impressionable students. Having convinced
them that the Steiner family had tricked Duke Reynolds out of
his claim to the Archonship, he then provided them with false
identification so that they could slip into the Royal Palace and
murder the Archon.
Confronted with this evidence, the young assassins
broke down and confessed. Graf DeSimon actually had
convinced them that if they killed the Archon and
implicated the Duke, a popular uprising would sweep aside
the Steiner family and usher in Duke Reynolds as Archon.
DeSimon’s motivation became clear when Duke Reynolds
told the Archon that he had recently stripped the man of
his lands as punishment for treating his landworkers too harshly.
When captured and confronted with the evidence, Graf
DeSimon confessed during a live broadcast that millions listened
to word for word. Who could still believe that the Duke of Fatima
was guilty after listening to the confession of the fat little man
sweating beneath the camera’s lights. Duke Reynolds was
released, and he graciously pardoned his former accusers. Graf
DeSimon and his gullible accomplices were executed.
While all this was going on in the Steiner realm, neither the
Archon nor his military advisers were aware that both the Free
Worlds League and the Draconis Combine had now added the
fearsome BattleMech to their own arsenal of weapons.
THE COMMONWEALTH WAKES UP
In many ways, the assassination of Archon Alistair
proved to be the first in a series of events that would
be a rude awakening to the Commonwealth. Up until
that time, the rule of the Steiner family seemed so sure
and strong that most Lyrans had developed a false
sense of security. Like children, they had believed that
because the Steiners were benevolent and fair rulers,
it followed that good would be rewarded and the whole
realm would ride into the future unscarred by the political
evils that plagued other members of the Terran
Hegemony.
—From Political Intrigue in the Lyran
Commonwealth, by Thelos Auburn, Regal Press, 3005
ORDER OF MAGNITUDE
Though internal politics became more calm during
the next five years, the Lyrans’ enemies had been busy
creating their own BattleMech regiments and would now
attempt to win back what they had lost in the
Commonwealth offensive of 2463. At first, neither the Free
Worlds League nor the Draconis Combine made much
headway, because the Steiner forces were still more expert in
‘Mech combat. The sight of enemy ‘Mechs upon the field
nevertheless gave even the most rabid warmonger among the
Steiner high command pause to wonder.
In 2471, Tharkad played host to a grand double wedding.
Archon Michael Steiner married Regina McQuiston, the Grafina
von Loch Lomarr of Skye and the only living descendant of the
famed McQuiston line. Steven Steiner, commander of the LCAF
and Landgrave of the Schwarzwald continent, married Margaret
Olsen, a senior officer in a local tank regiment.
Though the ceremony was a grand event, the festivities were
darkened by the news that Tatyana Steiner, younger sister to
Michael and Steven, had committed suicide the night before.
Though it seemed to many that the wedding should be canceled,
the Archon decided that to do so would be giving in to the same
despair that had taken his sister’s life. Who can say that if he had
canceled, things might have turned out differently?
Tatyana was doubtless one of those Steiners who suffered
from the most severe form of Dobrowski Depression-A Syndrome.
Records showed that the doctors had definitely prescribed the
medication needed to combat the crippling bouts of depression.
It was only after her death that the pills were found hidden in
every nook and cranny of her rooms.
Two years earlier, Tatyana had fallen passionately in love
with a married man, whose identity has never been revealed by
the Steiner family. They did release censored copies of letters
written to her nameless lover, and these showed the depth of
her hopelessness. In a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to
win him, Tatyana had become pregnant with his child. Though
she deeply loved her son, christened Robert Steiner, she could
not or would not control her depressions. On the eve of her own
brother’s marriage, she committed suicide.
STEVEN STEINER
MYSTICISM AND THE COMMONWEALTH
Though the stereotypical Lyran is a moneyhungry trader too practical to believe in anything
but the here and now, the truth is that there is a
strong undercurrent of mysticism running beneath
the pragmatism.
Telling fortunes, be it through the I Ching,
the Maltal computer program, or one of the many
zodiac cycles, is a popular pastime for many
Lyrans. A number of the better-known spirit
guides, mediums, and their ilk make a profitable
living in the hire of corporation leaders who seek
help from the spirit world to make major business
decisions.
Certainly what happened after Tatyana
Steiner’s death and the accession of Margaret
Olsen only heightened this mystical bent.
—From Mysticism and the Occult in
Commonwealth History, by Thelos Auburn,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3011
Less than a month after the wedding, a devastating
earthquake rocked Tharkad City, destroying everything in the
Triad except portions of the Royal Palace. Among those trapped
and killed in the rubble were Regina McQuiston and 67
Representatives of the Estates General. Ironically, these
Representatives were in Government House debating building
standards when the quake hit and the building collapsed on them.
Providence intervened to save the infant Robert Steiner, however.
When beams collapsed about his cradle, they formed an air
pocket in which he survived for three days before being rescued.
The grief-stricken Archon ordered the remnants of his palace
opened to accommodate as many refugees as possible, even if
it meant that he had no place to sleep. While the surviving Steiner
family members and nobility manned the kitchens and volunteered
for rescue crews, some semblance of order gradually returned
to the city.
As relief efforts poured into the city, the death of so many
Representatives and the destruction left by the quake presented
the Draconis Combine with an opportunity to make another
attempt to retake the planet Nox. When news of the attack reached
Tharkad, the Archon renounced the throne and publicly assumed
command of the Commonwealth forces on Nox. He claimed that
his grief made it impossible to govern, but not to fight. Steven
Steiner was sworn in as the new Archon in the snow-covered
field that had once been the Throne Room.
Michael Steiner died on Nox in the Battle of Beckvern Hill, the first
large-scale battle between ‘Mechs in Commonwealth history. His
company of ‘Mechs and heavy tanks moved against an equal number
of House Kurita’s ‘Mechs from a Sword of Light regiment. In a threehour engagement against the notoriously tenacious Kurita forces,
Michael Steiner’s troops fought their way into the enemy’s rear areas.
They then fanned out into lance-sized units to cause as much damage
as possible in the enemy’s supply and communications centers.
Michael Steiner’s command lance fought its way to the
enemy’s regimental headquarters. There, the former Archon
managed to destroy the headquarters, killing the commanding
officers and staff before being killed by Kurita ‘Mech
reinforcements. Michael Steiner’s body was returned to Tharkad
City, where it was buried beneath the floor of the new Throne
Room, alongside his father, Alistair Steiner.
Unfortunately for the Commonwealth, Steven Steiner
was one of the least effective rulers in its history, though
his reign was a long one. During his 26 years as Archon,
Steven allowed the nobility, which was growing very
prosperous from the war economy, to dilute his power.
Though an excellent military officer, he soon found the
intricacies of politics unfathomable, resorting as often as not to
whims and hunches when making decisions. His wife, Margaret
Olsen, added to the confusion by daily consulting the 30 zodiacal
aspects and meditating with every faddish guru that happened
along.
The infamous Loki Incident of 2488 probably points up
Steven’s failings as Archon better than any other event of his
reign. Loki is the ultra-secret branch of the Lyran Intelligence
Corps, combining the capabilities of a small commando unit
with the skills of secret agents. For more than 100 years, this unit
had been serving the Commonwealth faithfully and well. Though
some might accuse Loki of being the Commonwealth’s own
‘terrorist organization’, no one in the unit would have taken issue
with that.
In early 2488, Loki was ordered to hide itself in the caravan
of a Lyran trader in order to slip across the Draconis border.
Once on Vega, a major Kurita staging world for attacks against
the House Steiner, they were to perform a series of raids against
Kurita military bases before leaving the planet a year later via
another Lyran caravan. Later investigations found that Archon
Steven had not ordered the mission, nor had he any knowledge
of it, despite all the regulations requiring his approval of such a
risky and ambitious mission. The leader of the LIC testified that,
“I did not think the Archon would understand the complexities of
the situation”.
After a year of successful raids against military targets on
Vega, Loki botched an attempt to hit Fuson Air Base. The Loki
commander and six of the others were captured. The planetary
commander was a Kurita nobleman who could not help but
admire the skill and daring of the commandos. Instead of
executing them as his superiors had demanded, he decided to
ransom his Loki captives to the Commonwealth. It was not until
Archon Steven Steiner received the ransom demand that he
learned of the mission.
His greatest concern was that ransoming Loki would lead
to public knowledge of the unit. To admit to Loki would be
admitting to terrorist activities. To admit to terrorist activities would
be a denial of the high ideals he had sworn to uphold. One such
ideal was the protection of every Commonwealth citizen’s life,
however, and so the Archon’s thinking went round and round in
a vicious circle.
The whole story leaked out anyway, perhaps because
Steven had simply waited too long to act. Surprisingly, a poll
taken after the public learned of Loki showed that the average
Lyran was not much upset at the existence of a terrorist unit. That
did not ease the Archon’s troubled conscience, however. When
he turned to his counselors, they could not agree on their own
advice, at which point Steven broke down in tears. In the end, he
was guided by his wife, who advised him that “the stars were not
right for a ransom”. After declaring publicly that he had no
knowledge of Loki, Steiner refused to discuss the matter further.
The Archon’s decision resulted in a particularly gruesome
public execution of the captured commandos, tapes of which
the Kurita commander made sure were available in the
Commonwealth. There was further disgrace when some of the
remaining members of Loki angrily defected to House Kurita
and the rest went on a murderous rampage of senseless violence
before being hunted down and killed.
The Dukes of Tamar and Skye both took advantage
of the indecisive Archon. Together, they convinced him to
revoke an important law that forbade any noble to maintain
personal troops outnumbering the Commonwealth troops
on his world. This law had effectively assured the ultimate
and final authority of the Commonwealth government over
individual planetary governments.
With this key law no longer in effect, the dukes and other
nobility went on a spree of military spending to arm and equip
new personal troops. It was not long before this military buildup
also included ‘Mech units-the first time ‘Mechs were owned by
anyone but the Steiner government. Though the military high
command begged the Archon to reinstate the law, he was too
befuddled by his own brooding mind and his wife’s mystical advice.
During this sad time in Lyran history, the Draconis Combine fought
for and won back those worlds it had lost to the Commonwealth
offensive of 2463.
Planning for the future, some of the saner nobility and political
leaders urged the Archon to allow Robert Steiner, illegitimate
son of the late Tatyana, to enter the LCAF. They secretly hoped
that once away from the influence of his aunt and uncle, Robert
would grow fit to rule the Commonwealth, which was sinking under
his uncle’s incompetence. Because the young man was weak
from a rare form of muscular disease, his mentors enlisted Robert
Steiner in the physically less demanding AeroSpace Force.
THE FUGITIVE
During this time of upheaval, the most popular holovideo program in the Commonwealth was the fifth revival
of The Fugitive, that classic fable of a man falsely
accused of his wife’s murder but who hunts down the
real, one-armed killer. In the Commonwealth version of
the story, Richard Kimble was once a physician in an
LCAF surgical hospital. He is pursued by his childhood
best friend, now a member of the government’s police
force. Kimble’s loneliness and angst seemed to appeal
to a people who also had lost the innocence, or at least
the comfort, of a happier time.
—From Commonwealth Popular Culture: Insights
from our Leisure, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 3014
THE THARKAN WITCH
‘The Mystic Usurper’ and ‘The Tharkan Witch’ are
but two of the many names by which Margaret Olsen has
come to be known. Born into a minor noble family on
Tharkad, she grew up like any young girl of her class. At
16, Margaret fell ill from a mysterious fever that apparently
kept her close to death for a week.
Though she did recover from the fever, she began to speak
of disembodied voices that advised her to do various odd things.
At age 18, the dementia had increased to the point that Margaret’s
family committed her to a mental hospital. After a year of heavy
psychopharmaceutical therapy, Margaret Olsen was pronounced
completely cured and released from the hospital. She immediately
entered the LCAF, where she quickly rose in rank and became a
capable tank battalion commander.
To say that love is blind is as clichéd as saying that space is
infinite or that a Tharkan wolf is vicious. Nevertheless, when
Steven Steiner chose Margaret Olsen over all the brighter and
more attractive young women of the Court, many shrugged or
scratched their heads in wonder. From various biographies of
the period, it appears that the Steiner family was extremely
opposed to Margaret Olsen becoming part of their clan and made
serious efforts to dissuade the love-struck Steven. Their
disapproval only strengthened Steven’s resolve to marry
Margaret.
It is possible that the Steiner family’s opposition to the
marriage could have triggered Margaret’s insanity, but there is
little firm proof. All that is certain is that six months after the
wedding and a month after Margaret was forced to abort a lifethreatening pregnancy, she began to talk openly about her unseen
‘spiritual guides’.
Members of the Royal Court at first tried to ignore Margaret
Olsen’s peculiar pronouncements about reincarnation and karma,
but the more assorted mystics she began to collect, the more
everyone became concerned. Finally, Archon Michael gently
asked that Steven consider having his wife recommitted to the
mental hospital for another round of psychopharmaceutical
therapy. That conversation occurred just days before the
catastrophic quake that brought down the Triad, killed the Archon’s
wife, and led to the death of Michael himself.
Once he became Archon, Steven Steiner could not bear to
part with his wife, despite the fact that her mind seemed to be
steadily slipping away. Some psychiatric historians have
suggested that Steven Steiner saw in Margaret Olsen’s nearmanic personality everything that his own colorless personality
lacked. By the end of his reign, Margaret Olsen had gained almost
complete control over her indecisive mate. The Royal Court now
overflowed with religious cult leaders, unscrupulous noblemen,
and politicians who curried favor with Margaret Olsen by
professing faith in her demented visions.
In 2501, Archon Steven Steiner died. His legacy was a nobility
drunk with power, a wife in the clutches of mystic crooks, and no
child of his own to inherit the throne. Though Robert Steiner did
have a claim to the throne, no one in the realm protested when
Margaret Olsen proclaimed herself the new Archon. More than
any Archon ever could, apathy now reigned over the Lyran people.
THE MANY LIVES OF MARGARET OLSON
I’ve no doubt that I’ve lived many times before.
My unseen counselors have told me it is so. I need
no greater proof of their wisdom than consulting the
memories of my past lives as I meditate over the
incense made from Barlabaro seed pod. I was an
Egyptian priestess, a swordsman in the service of
King Louis XIII, a famous actress from North America,
and countless other lives. All these were physical
manifestations of my soul’s voyage toward perfection.
As that North American actress, I first came to
realize my mission. My message has not changed
since then. To gain perfection, one must surrender
totally to the unseen counselors, those who wait to
guide and teach your mind if only you would allow
them to enter.
—From Once Again Out On That Limb, by
Margaret Olsen, Channeling Press, 2488
EAGLES CRY
Robert Steiner was known around the Poulsbo aerodrome
as a quiet and often moody young officer. Indeed, his superiors
sometimes wondered if he had inherited his mother Tatyana’s
tragic streak. He was a tall, thin man whose leg muscles were so
weakened by a wasting disease that in normal gravity he could
walk only if wearing braces. He wore his hair long, a dark frame
for the disquieting gaze of his blue eyes. As he found it difficult to
let anyone near enough to see the lonely man within, Robert
had few friends.
Robert Steiner had become an accomplished pilot, had
even acquired a reputation as an ace in his Typhoon-A
AeroSpace Fighter. In honor of his many kills, Robert’s comrades
had painted his fighter in lurid colors and stenciled it with the
words, ‘Eagles cry at his approach’, for the many Marik fighters
and vehicles Robert had expertly dispatched. Though he hated
to see his craft in such vivid colors, Robert Steiner was too
touched by the gesture to repaint it.
When he heard of the death of his uncle and Margaret
Olsen’s claim to the throne, Robert was not at all concerned that
she had usurped his place. He was content to live the life of a
soldier, believing he did not have what it took to be Archon.
As the months passed and the level of lunacy steadily rose
in Tharkad, more and more political leaders and nobles came to
Poulsbo, begging Robert to take his rightful place on the throne.
Even that did not persuade him that he had the temperament or
skill to be Archon. When the commanding officers of all the
surrounding LCAF units trekked to Poulsbo to pledge to him
their unconditional support, it was an offer Robert Steiner could
not refuse.
Back in Tharkad City, the Throne Room was fast
becoming more like a carnival of mystic seers, card
readers, and charlatans who plied their trade with
impunity. Though some noblemen yearned to speak out
and to halt the madness, Margaret Olsen had the
unswerving support of the opportunistic and powerful
dukes of Tamar and Skye. These two had their own
reasons for blocking any effort to save the Archonship from ruin.
Though some whispered that Margaret had a mystic carnal
power over the two, the only lust that motivated the mighty dukes
was a lust for power.
In 2503, Robert Steiner arrived on Tharkad at the head of
several loyal regiments. Though Margaret Olsen had fled the
day before with the Duke of Skye, Robert’s entrance into the
disgraced Throne Room was memorable nonetheless. As he
and his officers entered the great chamber, the clatter of their
boots and the metallic squeak of Robert’s braces were the only
sounds in the large hall. He slowly approached the great carved
throne, which was still covered with the colored rugs and silks of
Margaret Olsen’s arcane beliefs. Climbing the steps of the dais,
he shook with a fury he had never known before as he gazed at
the throne. With one hand, he grasped at the silks and scarves
that hid the throne’s cool marble surface and threw them to the
floor. On his way out, Robert paused only long enough to stare
coldly at the sycophantic courtiers who had fostered the lunacy.
It may have been at this moment that Steiner shed his reluctance
to rule and replaced it with a vengeful hatred of those who had
stood by while the Commonwealth crumbled.
Appearing before the Estates General, Robert Steiner
presented his claim to the Archonship. He also responded to
Margaret Olsen’s favorite argument against him, the fact that he
was the illegitimate child of an illicit love affair. His words were
brief and to the point: “I may be a bastard son, but do I not seem
more fit to rule than a madwoman who believes in ghosts and
reads state policy in tea leaves? I intend to govern with reason
and with the help of good men’s counsel, not because of the
constellations of the stars or by gazing into Arcturan memory
crystals”. Also listening to him were the Lyran people, who must
have breathed a sigh of relief when the Estates General approved
Robert Steiner’s claim.
REPAYING OLD DEBTS
Though some military units remained neutral for a time,
Robert Steiner was able to assemble a substantial force of
regiments loyal to his cause. Setting out in pursuit of Margaret
Olsen and the Dukes of Tamar and Skye, Robert Steiner arrived
with his force in Skye in late 2504. His men were drained from
their long voyages and the many skirmishes with Margaret’s
supporters along the way. Nevertheless, he and his men
managed to push back the Duke of Skye’s house units.
Just as Robert Steiner’s units were closing in on the capital
of Skye where they hoped to capture Margaret Olsen and the
duke, units from far Tamar arrived to block his advance. This
allowed Margaret Olsen, the Duke of Skye, and most of their
forces to escape in a DropShip, while Robert Steiner was forced
to sit and watch their escape.
Five months later, he and his near-exhausted troops fell on
Tamar. There, they found themselves outnumbered and too
fatigued to mount an effective defense. Margaret’s supporters
had soon pushed Robert Steiner’s units back onto a barren and
rocky peninsula in the arid Sahara continent of Tamar. Frustrated
and angry at himself, Robert Steiner realized that he had led his
men to certain death at the hands of a woman who conversed
with plants.
Guessing that the final attack would come at
sundown, the Duke of Tamar’s favorite time to strike, the
might-have-been Archon watched grimly as the red sun
touched the horizon. At that moment, the sounds of a
planetary cutter coming in for a landing broke the desert
stillness. It was painted with the colors of the Terran
Hegemony. Once down between the two armies, the
cutter’s door opened and a diplomatic mediator stepped out.
Declaring a temporary cease-fire, the mediator then requested
that the leaders of both sides meet in his ship. Welcoming the
chance to postpone fate for a few hours, Robert Steiner went
gladly. Though unhappy at the delay to their plans, the dukes
and Margaret Olsen approached the ship.
After a whole night of sometimes violent negotiations, they
had not been able to agree on terms. At daylight, the enemy
leaders returned to their respective positions. Once the
mediator’s ship had gone, they would resume their final battle.
As he lifted his eyes to watch the ship lift away, Robert
Steiner also glimpsed streaks in the sky above the enemy forces.
As the dukes launched their attack, Robert saw that the vague
glowing lines had now become more clear-cut as objects burning
their way through the atmosphere. On a hunch, he ordered his
troops to open fire early at the slowly advancing attackers to
gain as much time as possible.
This confused the advancing enemy troops, some of whom
turned and headed the way they had come. Though stripped of
their support, others continued forward into the fields of fire,
which easily cut them down. Having seen enough, Robert Steiner
was grinning broadly when he gave the order to advance.
Though the order must have been a surprise, his ‘Mechs, tanks,
and men began obediently to leave their defensive positions.
The resistance they met was haphazard. Steiner’s troops
now began to believe that a victory rather than defeat was near.
Jubilantly, they began to chase the fleeing rebel men and ‘Mechs
clear of the peninsula.
Six hours later, and some 30 kilometers inland, Robert
Steiner could see that he and his men were approaching the
smoke and fire of a pitched battle. Someone had come to his
rescue, but he still had not a clue about who it might be.
A Griffin that Robert Steiner did not recognize from either
his own or his enemy’s forces was approaching through the
smoke of battle. It lumbered its way toward Robert Steiner, who
had climbed atop his mobile headquarters to meet it. From the
‘Mech’s speakers came the voice of Nels Reynolds, the young
Duke of Fatima. He told the astonished Robert Steiner that his
family had been waiting for a chance to repay its debt to the
Steiner family and now was as good a time as any. With a laugh,
Robert Steiner agreed heartily.
The next year, Robert Steiner was officially sworn in as
Archon. He immediately had the rebel Dukes of Skye and Tamar
tried for treason, for which they were later executed. Steiner also
stripped their families of title and rank, then dispersed them to
exile in remote areas of the Commonwealth. His aunt, who was
obviously not fully responsible for her actions, was also tried
and found guilty by reason of insanity. She was sentenced to life
imprisonment in a fortress castle set high on a mountain in the
forbidden reaches of Gallery.
To replace the treasonous rulers of the Federation of Skye
and the Tamar Pact, the Archon chose two loyal branches of the
Kelswa and Lestrade families. His next move was to order the
nobility to place their house troops under control of the LCAF, or
else become fair game as enemies of the Commonwealth. It
was an offer no one refused.
THE STAR LEAGUE ERA
On this, the 29th day of May, in the year of our lord
two thousand, five hundred, and fifty-eight, I, Tracial
Regina Steiner, the ninth Archon of the Lyran
Commonwealth, signed the Tharkan Accords. With that,
I announce the intention of our fair realm to become a
member of the as yet unborn Star League. As a full and active
partner in this grand design, I look forward to many long and
fruitful years of peace and prosperity.
—From My Time as Archon, by Tracial Regina Steiner,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 2570
PRELUDE
As Archon, Robert Steiner decided that his next order of
business was to stimulate his realm’s recovery from the economic
and emotional devastation of war. He felt to blame for the civil
war and all its misery because his reluctance to take his place
on the throne had pushed matters to the limit. He therefore made
full reparation for the war damage done on Skye and Tamar,
paying for it from his personal fortune.
In 2511, Robert Steiner married his long-time love, the
intelligent and beautiful Lucindra Andruson, who soon bore him
a son and heir, the infant Craig. The way he had handled the
question of war damage in Tamar and Skye had won him much
admiration among the Lyran people. Now his idyllic family life
made Robert even more popular with people ready and eager
to forget the difficult years just past. It was not long before Robert
Steiner could do no wrong in the eyes of his people.
Shielded by his popularity, the Archon set out to win back
the powers his uncle had let slip through his fingers. He had a
subtle plan, however, that would give the nobility and the Estates
General the illusion that they were gaining more say in running
the Commonwealth. He invited the Estates General to submit its
views directly to the Archon’s advisors in the Commonwealth
Council instead of having to wait for an invitation from him. As a
further gracious concession, Robert began to host a series of
luncheons, during which he and members of the nobility and
the Estates General’s Steering Committee had informal political
discussions.
Knowing that both he and his people had suffered enough
war for a while, Archon Robert did not turn the LCAF loose on
many major campaigns during his reign. It was in a rare military
action when the LCAF took Megrez from the Free Worlds League
in 2508. For the next 20 years, House Marik made many attempts
to win back the valuable planet. This kept numerous LCAF
regiments tied up defending Megrez, further reducing Robert’s
desire to embark on other costly military campaigns. The Archon
was more than content to see mediators from the Terran
Hegemony use diplomacy to solve the House Steiner’s disputes
with its neighbors. It was a slower process, but it kept the
Commonwealth’s young soldiers from dying, and the war-weary
Lyrans were grateful.
In 2528, after 22 years as a popular Archon, Robert Steiner
stepped down. His son, Craig, who had just turned 20, took his
place at the helm.
CRAIG STEINER
Craig Steiner is one of those unfortunate men
whose image pales beside the flashier, more
charismatic personalities of his time. Though he was
responsible for many innovations in the
Commonwealth government, history is fickle enough
that we remember him best for altering the Throne
Room.
—From The Quiet Years, by Yvonna DeCarls,
Commonwealth HistoricalPress, 2569
Less than a year after young Craig became Archon, there
was an attempt on his life. While the Archon was presenting
medals and awards in the Commonwealth Olympiad of Human
Endeavors, an assassin threw a small explosive device at him.
The device exploded, but not before the Archon ducked behind
the throne, which absorbed the blast. Unfortunately, three people
did die in the explosion, one of whom was a singer much beloved
in the realm. Steiner’s men did not take long to capture the wouldbe assassin among the buildings of the Triad. The man was a
minor noble from Skye and a heavy user of KZ, a dangerous
drug that seems to have impaired his mind. From all
appearances, he had been acting alone and out of some twisted
desire to become a hero or die, whichever came first.
After this close brush with death, Archon Craig had the
Throne Room extensively remodeled. The dais was raised, the
ceiling heightened and strengthened, and two immense doors
were built on either side of the throne. The reason for these
modifications became clear at the Archon’s next birthday
celebration. While the Archon grinned at his guests’ surprise,
two Griffin BattleMechs walked through the doors flanking the
throne to stand on either side of where he sat. The dimensions of
the Throne Room were altered to give these behemoths
considerable room to maneuver, should the need arise. The
‘Mech pilots who draw this “Guardian Duty” are specially trained
for close-quarter maneuvering, and they must be expert
marksmen to avoid accidentally killing important personages
who might be standing near an attacker. As long as the two
Griffins and the standard complement of Royal Guards keep
their vigilant watch, the Archon has almost fool-proof protection.
When an assassin shot the Speaker of the Assembly in
2538, Craig Steiner proposed a similar security measure for
Government House. The Representatives balked at having
members of the Archon’s military present to witness everything
that occurred in their sessions, however.
In 2531, the Free Worlds League made yet another attempt
to take Megrez. Diplomats and mediators from the Cameron
family stopped the attack before it could begin, with an offer to
try to settle the many disputed issues between the two realms.
Four years and many thousands hours of negotiations later, the
leaders of both realms signed the Megrez Treaty. It settled the
major points of contention between the two states, with a token
peacekeeping force from the Hegemony kept on hand to
administer still-disputed worlds.
In the meantime, Craig Steiner had married Rebecca
Kemper, an economist who helped him restructure the
Commonwealth’s banking system so that both large and
small companies could more easily obtain business
loans. Though this greatly stimulated the growth of large
companies, it backfired on the smaller ones, who
suddenly found themselves bait for the shark-like
conglomerates. So many business takeovers occurring at once
was not healthy for the economy, and so the Archon decided to
freeze all further attempts in 2537.
After considerable modification of the loan system, Craig
Steiner again released the brakes on the economy the next
year. The result was a 20-year economic boom stimulated by the
new loan policy. With hostile border activity and bandit raids at
an all-time low, this boom was heightened even further when
many from the overcrowded Federation of Skye emigrated to
the Periphery provinces. At last, those worlds had access to the
manpower and technology needed to develop their rich but
untapped resources.
This economic boom also attracted many corporate giants
from the Terran state into the Commonwealth. During these years,
firms like Nissan, Vinci Oppenheimer, General Motors Interstellar,
and Takashi all opened major factories there. Indeed, it was fast
becoming evident that the Lyran Commonwealth’s so many
potentially prosperous worlds added to its already developed
worlds would soon be the industrial center of the whole Inner
Sphere.
Another of Craig Steiner’s innovations that popular history
tends to ignore was the creation of the Supreme Court of the
Commonwealth in 2543. This court would be the ultimate arbiter
and interpreter of Commonwealth laws, ending the tendency of
many planetary leaders to bend the laws to suit their own
purposes. The first Chief Justice of the Court was Tracial Steiner,
an experienced judge and a second-cousin to the Archon. She
set the tone of the court by immediately striking down a
controversial tariff law that the Archon had written. Surprising
many, Craig Steiner openly admired her spunk and allowed the
ruling to stand.
When high-level negotiators from Ian Cameron landed on
Tharkad in 2551, most observers assumed they had come to
negotiate a new treaty between the Draconis Combine and the
Commonwealth. If truth were known, the purpose of those ultrasecret meetings was even more ambitious than that. The
diplomats’ mission was to persuade the Archon to join in the
‘grand experiment’, the amalgamation of the five other major
member-states ruled by Houses Davion, Steiner, Marik, Kurita,
and Liao, into a single confederacy. With its solid industrial base,
the Lyran Commonwealth would be a key to creating this new
order, and so the diplomats were extra careful to allay Craig
Steiner’s fear that he would be giving up power over his worlds.
In 2554, Archon Craig Steiner came to an important decision.
His own health was failing and his beloved wife had never borne
him an heir. Rather than divorce Rebecca in hopes of fathering
a child with another mate, the Archon decided to appoint ‘the
spunky firebrand’ as his successor. Tracial Steiner was officially
recognized as the Archon-Designate. Though she had been
well content as head of the Supreme Court, Tracial resigned as
Chief Justice to join with the Archon in the delicate negotiations
with Cameron diplomats. The next year, Craig Steiner died of
heart failure.
Three years later, in 2558, Tracial Steiner signed the Tharkan
Accords, the document that officially and publicly joined the
Lyran Commonwealth to Ian Cameron’s plan to build the Star
League.
MINOR ADJUSTMENTS
The Star WHAT? You mean we’re going join with
those slimy serpents and the plague pigeons across the
borders in some half-baked idea that a Cameron came
up with? In the name of what-Peace? What’s next, will I
have to sell my daughter to a Capellan slaver in the
name of Freedom? Gods above, it’s like I’ve always said, politics
is the last refuge of the incompetent and the insane.
—From Official Transcripts of High Command Meetings, Year
2558, by Gen. Miter Patner, Commonwealth Military Press, 2568
The announcement that the Archon had agreed to join a
‘Star League’ stirred up debate and controversy among the
nobles and the Representatives on Tharkad as well as on every
planet in the Commonwealth. Many had serious doubts that
states that had been at war with one another for almost five
centuries could find political common ground, much less peace.
Others were concerned that membership in the Star League
might affect the economy adversely because the Commonwealth
had always depended on closed borders to protect its industrial
edge.
Still others wondered how this new arrangement would
affect relations with the frontier governments of the Periphery,
who, like the early settlers of the Exodus, did not feel much in
common with the more civilized sphere they had left behind. It
seemed unlikely that any of the four outworld republics would
want to join the League.
As the Archon had already signed the Accords, the whole
debate was purely academic. Critics of the Star League could
only hope that their fears were groundless.
REACTION
I can’t help seeing death in the Archon’s actions.
She lives too far from the Periphery border to
understand that we depend as much on the outworld
republics as we rely on our own Commonwealth.
Understand me, for I mean to speak no treason against
the government that has kept us so well for these past
centuries. But can we sit idly by and let Armageddon
march toward us without at least protesting?
—From Official Transcripts of Government House,
Year 2558, by Keiv Fleicha, Representative of Lost,
Commonwealth Press, 2559
In 2559, Viola Steiner, the Archon’s daughter and only
offspring, married Robert Dinesen, the Duke of Coventry. This
especially pleased her mother, who had come to believe Viola
was married only to the military.
For her part, Viola was so smitten with Robert Dinesen that
she broke with Steiner tradition and took his surname at the
wedding. Though this caused some tension between the Archon
and her daughter, Tracial Steiner took comfort that at least the
Dinesen family honored its own deep roots and strong traditions
the way the Steiners did. Who could have guessed at this
moment of love in bloom that one day relations between these
two families would become a war of assassins?
Though the Star League was still a few years away from its
official birth, it was already affecting economic relations between
the six major states, who had agreed to a total ceasefire. At
Cameron’s urging, they had also lowered nearly all trade barriers.
By 2560, the Lyran Commonwealth had rescinded the last of its
major trade restrictions, the Foreign Tariffs. Almost
immediately, its business dealings with the other states
burgeoned, while many outside investors tried to buy
into Commonwealth industries. As a result, the economy
rose and fell precipitously for nearly a year and half. In
the meantime, millions of immigrants began to swarm
into the prosperous Commonwealth to make their
fortunes. Most of these did not settle on under-populated worlds
such as those in the Periphery, but headed instead for already
crowded industrial worlds like Rahne and Skye.
In 2562, the Archon stepped in to close the Commonwealth’s
borders, reimpose all the tariffs, and severely restrict foreign
investments in Commonwealth businesses. She also moved to
have the various banks, stock markets, and other financial
institutions upgrade their facilities to stay more abreast of the
new interstate economy. Her final move was to instruct the
Estates General to revise many of the trade laws, so that they
would be appropriate to the torrent of money and goods that
would be flowing in and out of the realm when she reopened the
borders.
Also that year, the first graduate left the Star League military
academies just completed on Skye and Tharkad. Construction
of these academies had been an important factor in the Archon’s
decision to sign the Accords, which allowed the LCAF legal
access to the new Star League military. Both academies offered
extensive training for the various branches of service. Though
the majority of the graduates were duty-bound to serve in the
League forces for at least five years, some would remain with
the LCAF to upgrade its often inept ranks.
In 2564, Tracial Steiner gradually began to loosen trade
restrictions. The goal was to gently ease the Commonwealth
economy into the League, giving the government enough time
to tinker with new laws and financial bodies to handle the
expanded trade. Commonwealth businessman were looking
forward particularly to trading with Rim Worlds Republic, which
was rich in key resources.
In 2566, another major earthquake rocked Tharkad City,
though the damage was less catastrophic than previously. Most
of the Triad remained standing, and casualties were remarkably
lower than in the quake of 2475. As Government House had
suffered most, the Archon decided it would be more efficient to
tear down the ruins and simply rebuild the whole structure. In
the meantime, the Archon offered the Representatives the use
of her Throne Room as a temporary assembly hall. This gracious
offer was partly motivated by Tracial’s desire to keep the
delegates on Tharkad rather than have them adjourn to some
other world. It would take six years before construction of the
new Government House was complete.
During that time, the Throne Room was rearranged to
accommodate the Representatives. The Speaker of the
Assembly’s chair was placed next to the Archon’s throne, but on
a lower step. Often, the Archon wandered in unannounced to
observe the proceedings. Rather than stifle debate by taking
her throne, she remained at the back, sitting among the junior
Representatives on their temporary benches.
In 2570, Archon Tracial Regina Steiner died of a massive
heart attack at the age of 64. Viola Steiner-Dinesen, her sole
heir, became the Commonwealth’s tenth Archon. Many Steiner
family members and the traditionalists among the nobility wished
secretly that she would resume using the Steiner name. Others
said that did not worry them as much as whether the Archon
would become merely a powerless figurehead once the
Star League became official. In that same year, Viola
gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Sarah. Kevin
Dinesen, her son and the Archon-Designate, was ten
years old when his mother took the throne.
When the Star League came officially into being in
2571, the Lyran people greeted the event with cautious
optimism. After the financial fiasco of the 60s, the average
Lyran looked forward to peaceful union with the other League
members, but only with proper protection. Some voiced the worry
that the rich Commonwealth economy would be expected to
carry the burden for the less successful members. Furthermore,
it did not sit well with many that the new laws created to stimulate
other League members’ industries would eventually place them
in competition with currently successful Lyran firms.
From a political viewpoint, however, most people were
overjoyed at the idea of a Star League and the peaceful times it
promised. Trying to defend a realm as vast as the Commonwealth
had always been a difficult feat of organization, and so the LCAF
was relieved that it would no longer face that monumental task.
Militarily, the Commonwealth had never been stronger. Now
that the Lyrans had open access to new sources of resources
and materials, it gave the defense industries a much needed
boost in productivity. As a by-product of the expanding economy,
BattleMech facilities on Coventry, Alarion, and Sudeten were
greatly expanded. Finally, with cadets from the Commonwealth
eligible to attend either of the two Star League military
academies, the LCAF would always remain up-to-date on the
latest technical advances, and its young recruits would get the
finest possible training. Perhaps the graduates from these topflight academies would put an end to the shameful condition of
the LCAF’s higher echelons, which were filled with socially skilled
but militarily useless officers.
DISILLUSIONMENT
Yes, I agree with my learned colleague. There have
been many disappointments since we joined the Star
League. Worst of all is the outworlds question, which is
not likely to resolve itself peacefully. If what we fear comes
to pass, every world in the Commonwealth will suffer the
consequences. Once again, families will dread the knock at
their door and the messenger from the LCAF. Honored
Representatives, that is exactly my point. That is why I stand
before you in favor of the resolution: If every world must share
the worst the Star League has to offer, why shouldn’t it share its
best?
—Archon Viola Dinesen Steiner, in The Great Tax Debate,
Brusch Gret, ed., Price Publishers, 2589
The economy of the Lyran Commonwealth, properly shored
up by the government’s new economic policies, entered an
unparalleled period of growth during the first years of the Star
League. Though this was good propaganda, prosperity had not
spread around equally among Lyran worlds, which brought to a
head a problem that had been festering for many years.
The Federation of Skye and the Tamar Pact, the industrial
giants of the Star League, were making huge sums of money
per world, while the Protectorate of Donegal had actually
experienced a drop in profits per planet. Yet, according to the tax
system, each province was expected to pay a third of the taxes
need to finance the Commonwealth government. This left the
Protectorate poorer, while the other two barely missed their
shares.
This imbalance eventually led to a growing movement
among the poorer worlds of the Periphery provinces for
substantial tax reform. The movement became known as the
Main Street Rebellion, named for the Periphery world where the
issue first arose. The Rebellion soon had hundreds of thousands
supporters, and clashes with their opponents were often violent.
This placed the Archon in a delicate position. As ruler of the
Commonwealth, she was duty-bound to suppress any danger
to the realm, yet as the leader of the Protectorate, she also had
to agree with much of what the Main Street Rebellion had to say.
No matter what she did, Viola knew it would anger one side or
the other. Someone other than she would have to settle the
issue before a legitimate grievance degenerated into a violent
rebellion.
After a bit of political wrangling, the Archon persuaded the
Duke of Skye, leader of the rich-worlds coalition, to agree to
publicly debate the issue with her before the Estates General.
After the debate, the Representatives would vote on whether to
change the tax system, and both the Archon and the Duke of
Skye would honor their decision. That memorable debate took
place on one of the most sweltering days of that Tharkan summer.
For five hours, the Archon and the Duke of Skye debated one
another in the stuffy Throne Room where the Representatives
had gathered to listen. As the debate drew to a close, the Archon
regally took her place on the throne, a bit of upstaging with
which the Duke could not possibly compete The Representatives
voted, easily giving an almost unanimous yes to the Archon’s
desire to change the tax system. Some of the richer
Representatives had cast the few opposing nay votes. They
considered the final decision a bitter defeat and secretly began
to oppose the Archon’s power.
It was fortunate that the tax burden for the Periphery
worlds was eased, for their trade with the outworld
republics would soon be cut off by a bold move of the
Star League’s First Lord. In 2575, First Lord Cameron
sent a message to the Taurian Concordat, Rim Worlds
Republic, the Outworlds Alliance, and the Magistracy of
Canopus, the four alliances of the outer worlds. Though
couched in diplomatic euphemism, the message was explicit
enough: these alliances would either join the Star League or the
Star League would war against them. The outworlders’ rather
scathing reply had many Lyran leaders and citizens shaking
their heads sadly.
For the next two years, the Inner Sphere held its collective
breath as the League made half-hearted attempts to negotiate
with the outer republics. When the outworlders held firm, the
Star League declared war in 2578. There were riots on the
Commonwealth worlds lying near the Periphery border and many
heated arguments between Archon Viola and the First Lord. In
the end, however, the Archon knew she would have to side with
the League.
Lyran businessmen were also outraged at the news of war.
They believed it was a trick to drain dry the Commonwealth
economy. When the Star League placed much of the burden of
supplying the war effort on them, it did not help matters. As part
of a crash industrial program, construction began on a vast
BattleMech facility to replace the old one in the mountains of
Hesperus II. This new industrial complex would eventually
become Defiance Industries, the largest manufacturer of ‘Mechs
in the present-day Inner Sphere.
The high command of the LCAF spared the Archon from making
that difficult decision by volunteering its force for the war. They
immediately began pulling troops from all fronts but the Kurita border,
and sent them to rendezvous points along the Periphery border. The
defense industries began churning out arms, ammo, and supplies,
which flowed in a constant stream toward the Periphery border.
A recent poll conducted by the Heinman Public
Opinion Systems shows that 47 percent of the Lyran
people are in favor of seceding from the Star League,
while 32 percent are in favor of our continued
involvement with the League. One man remarked to
the pollster, “I thought we were joining the Star League
to prevent wars, not provoke them.” Riots continued
today in the Periphery worlds of Bone-Norman, Lost,
and Timbuktu. Losses from those week-long rampages
have been heavy. It is expected that First Lord Cameron
will soon ask the Archon either to commit a substantial
portion of the LCAF to the League’s fight against the
outworld republics or else to commit the remainder of
the Commonwealth’s industries to supplying the war.
—From Tharkan Evening News, Tharkan Broadcasting
Co., June 4, 2579
OPERATION MAILED FIST
All that he could see before him was an endless
landscape of rocks, desert sands, and scrub growth. To
the west, the sinking sun made a ruddy shadow over the
brown land. Images of his children playing cowboys and
Indians kept floating through Colonel Rechard’s mind.
He felt like his troops were the cowboys, all tired and worn out.
Out there in the foxholes, hiding in caverns, in the treacherous
canyons, and up in the chilling air were the soldiers of the Rim
Worlds Republic just waiting for their chance to strike. Just like a
real life cowboy, Colonel Rechard couldn’t understand why it
was necessary to hate the Indians just because they were
fighting for their homeland.
—From Desert Fights: The Reunification Wars, by Crepto
Sals, Skye Military Press, 2602
Having decided that it would be cowardly not to face the
same dangers that she was asking her troops to confront, Archon
Viola Steiner-Dinesen announced that she would lead the Lyran
Expeditionary Force at the head of the 4th Royal Guards. To rule
in her absence, she appointed her son Kevin, and made the
Dukes of Skye and Tamar his official counselors. Though a few
eyebrows arched at the appointments, the Archon knew that the
Kelswa and Lestrade families were loyal to her rule. She knew,
too, that those families were part of the Expeditionary forces she
planned to head.
Operation Mailed Fist was launched in 2581. With forces
from the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League to
supplement Star League regiments, the operation’s goal was to
drive straight through the Rim Worlds Republic to capture its
capital. The outworlds governments had only recently learned
to field BattleMechs, and so the League commanders did not
expect serious opposition to their better-equipped invasion force
composed almost entirely of ‘Mechs. According to a naively
optimistic plan drawn up by Star League strategists, it would
take only five years to conquer the Rim Worlds Republic. In the
end, it took some 20 years and nearly resulted in toppling the
rule of the Archons.
Though the Rim Worlds Republic might be at a disadvantage
because they had not been using BattleMechs for long, what
they were skilled at was construction of large, heavily armed
tanks and hovercraft. These tanks, along with their crews’ detailed
knowledge of the planetary terrains, more than made up for the
League’s superiority in ‘Mechs.
As a result, the Star League forces often found themselves
at the mercy of tanks that seemed to appear from nowhere to cut
down a ‘Mech before melting back into the terrain. In another
error of judgment, the League commanders had not provided
for infantry support, believing it would not be necessary. Without
it, their forces were not able to hold onto what territory they did
manage to capture. This whole campaign might have been
called a comedy of errors, but for the many lives lost.
Bad planning and a stubborn opponent extended the fiveyear plan to a goal of ten years. Desertions, which had never
before plagued the LCAF, suddenly became a serious problem.
Sick of the fighting, MechWarriors, Techs, and common soldiers
chucked their uniforms and tried to disappear into the native
populations, hoping somehow to hitch a ride back home. The
Archon had no choice but to order that the deserters be hunted
down, tried, and sentenced to a minimum ten years’ hard labor
in the ammunition loading pens of the rear echelon.
Eight years into the invasion, the Star League
offensive had crossed a third of the way toward the
capital of the Rim Worlds Republic. In the other outworld
republics, Star League offensives had been meeting with
similar dismal results. By now, the war had begun to
affect the daily lives of ordinary Lyrans back home in the
Commonwealth. Industry, which was geared totally to
manufacturing military equipment and supplies, no longer
produced many items that had previously been available to the
citizenry. Even worse, so much of the total food production was
going to the war zone that there were shortages on the poorer
worlds, and resulting food riots.
Meanwhile, the young Archon-Designate was losing control
over the government. Not only was social unrest widespread,
but there was open talk in the Estates General about seceding
from the Star League. Hoping to win back popular support, Kevin
ordered a cut in taxes to ease the burden on the people. When
representatives from First Lord Cameron warned him that the
League still needed the flow of Lyran money and materials,
Kevin responded by raising taxes again. Though the Dukes of
Tamar and Skye had urged against this course, Kevin dared not
disobey the League’s demand.
The Steering Committee, composed of rich Representatives
who had been hurt by the Archon’s new tax system, seized upon
this latest taxes issue as an excuse for secessionist rhetoric.
Seizing the initiative, they ordered a special session of the
Estates General to discuss and vote on the wisdom of the Lyran
Commonwealth’s continued participation in the Star League.
THE ARCHON KIDNAPPED
I’ve no interest in what the Star League can provide us
years from now. I only know what they’ve already given us-pain,
hunger, chaos, and an Archon light-years away, busy shooting
at citizens whose only crime is wishing to be left in peace and
free of the sickly Star League. Fellow Representatives. I say we
have no choice. We must overcome whatever and whoever
stands in our way, no matter how high they might stand.
—Graf Henry Gram, Speaker of the Assembly, in Official
Transcripts of Government House, Year 2591, Commonwealth
Press, 2592
When the Representatives arrived in Tharkad City for the
special session, they learned that Kevin Dinesen had been
kidnapped from the Archon’s offices just behind the Throne
Room. Following clues they picked up at the scene, agents from
the LIC took their investigation from Tharkad to Donegal.
Then wild rumors that the Dukes of Tamar and Skye were
implicated in the kidnapping began to fly on Tharkad. Though
the LIC issued a public statement saying there was no evidence
to support such a charge, hostility toward the two Dukes only
grew more overt. When someone took a shot at the Duke of
Tamar, he and his friend from Skye prudently decided to leave
Tharkad.
With a great wringing of hands, the Steering Committee
members publicly declared themselves the temporary head of
the Commonwealth until the Archon was safely returned. Then
they began to harangue the Star League, blaming it for everything
from the food shortages to the abduction of the Archon-Designate.
In conclusion, the Committee spokesman announced that the
Estates General would vote on whether the Lyran
Commonwealth should remain in the Star League.
BERSERKER
God Almighty, when I saw that Warhammer bearing
down on me. I thought Satan himself was a-piloting it, so
fast and furious was its moving. I figured the Rim Worlders
must have snuck up on us, catching us with our pants
down. Poor Timothy didn’t I even see it coming. The
Warhammer just collided with his Stinger, toppling him to the
ground. Then that Warhammer raised its PPC and fired pointblank into poor Timothy’s cockpit. The kid had just turned 20. I
said to myself, ‘McCorkell, ’tis time to leave’. I trained my Wasp’s
laser on the Warhammer ‘s left leg, ready to hit my jets the instant
the shot went off. But just as I fingered the trigger, that Warhammer
wheeled about and hit me with the other PPC, tossing me back
30 meters.
You know, I can understand why she did what she did, but
so many of my friends died that I could never really forgive her.
—Interview with Leutnant Silas McCorkell, in The Commonwealth: Do We Stay? Skye Broadcasting Network, May 4. 2593
The Archon was in the field when news of her son’s abduction
reached her. Unfortunately, the rumors about the two dukes’
supposed involvement also reached her at the same time.
Enraged, she ordered her company to mount up, then marched
her ‘Mechs to where elements of the 25th Skye Rangers and the
Tamar Tigers were camped, both house troops of the Dukes of
Skye and Tamar. Nearing the camp in her Warhammer, Viola
targeted the sentry Griffin piloted by a Skye Ranger, and blew
the unsuspecting ‘Mech away with two shots. Then her stunned
unit watched as the Archon ran into the camp, knocking over
empty ‘Mechs and shooting at anyone in her path. As the camp
began to mount a ragged defense that threatened the Archon
with increasing fire, her dumbfounded unit finally moved to defend
her.
The commander of the Star League forces could not believe
the report he was hearing, as he headed toward the campsite
with his ‘Mech battalion. Topping the crest of a hill, he and his
men looked down into the camp. The hulks of more than 20
Commonwealth ‘Mechs stood burning in the sun. Others wore
hobbling off the field, with arms missing or otherwise mangled
bodies or heads. The rest were still fighting, most hand-to-hand,
their struggles actually making the ground shake and groan. In
the midst of the chaos stood the hulk of the Archon’s Warhammer,
its left arm gone and its cockpit caved in. Having seen enough,
the Star League commander moved his battalion in to separate
the combatants.
For a month, the Archon lay near death, while the whole
realm speculated about her state of mind upon learning of Kevin’s
abduction. Could the Steiners’ genetic tendency toward
Depression-A Syndrome have had something to do with Viola’s
blind range? No one knew, nor is it likely anyone ever will.
What is known is that the Tamar Tigers and the 25th Skye
Rangers lost 117 men and women, 14 of them MechWarriors.
With deep regret, the Archon’s second-in-command accepted
their request to leave the invasion force and return home.
When Viola finally regained consciousness, the LIC briefed
her on their investigation of Kevin’s kidnapping. Their report
completely cleared the Dukes of Tamar and Skye of involvement.
It was later said that it was out of deep remorse that the Archon
never replaced her lost limb with an artificial arm and why she
never allowed her ‘Mech’s left arm to be repaired. Having
recovered enough to travel, the Archon requested permission
from the Star League commander to withdraw most of her force
and return to the Commonwealth.
Colonel Steven Zaks, commander of the 12th
Donegal Guards, is shown wearing the typical senior
officer’s field uniform. Campaign bars adorn the front of
his flack jacket. Colonel Zaks’s blue sash shows that
he graduated from the prestigious Nagelring on
Tharkad. As so few officers carry a riding crop, it
indicates that this colonel is either young, vain, or botha potentially disastrous combination.
LIC guards were leading Henry Gram through another
door. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the Archon
While the Archon was meting out vengeful justice
changed direction and pushed her ‘Mech into trot toward
against innocent men and women in the far Periphery,
the defiant Gram.
back on Tharkad, events were moving swiftly. Bombarded
Seeing the Warhammer thundering toward then the
by the Steering Committee’s shrill demands for secession
guards scattered. In one last act of courage, Henry Gram
from the Star League, many Representatives had begun
stood calmly as the Warhammer stopped in front of him.
to grow suspicious. Whenever there was a call for a final
For a moment, the man and machine contemplated one other.
vote, a core of delegates loyal to the Archon filibustered to give
Then, raising the ‘Mech’s foot high over the head of hi son’s
others time to investigate privately the disappearance of Kevin
abductor, the Archon brought it down with such force that the
Steiner Dinesen.
concrete crumbled beneath her fury, and blood mixed with the
Though they contacted the LIC, that agency seemed
soil beneath. The patch of crushed concrete has never been
indecisive and unwilling to offer help. It later came out that LIC
repaired, and though the soil is exposed to the rain and the sun,
rules forbade its officials from releasing information or taking
no grass has ever grown there.
major action without the permission of the Archon, who happened
In the aftermath of Kevin’s abduction, the Archon had every
to be in a coma at the time. It almost cost Kevin Steiner his life.
Representative of the Estates General thoroughly questioned
What the LIC and the Representatives could not know was that
and investigated. All involved in the crime were quickly tried and
Kevin Dinesen was by then quite ill. His ten months of captivity
executed. So great was Viola’s disgust with their deed that she
had deprived him of much of his physical strength and most of
had the Estates General disbanded for 20 years. In addition to a
his emotional well-being.
public apology to the Dukes of Tamar
As members of the Steering
and Skye and to the families of those
Committee were also blocking the
who had died on the day of her rage,
loyal Representatives’ efforts to
THE STEINER PSYCHE
she bestowed land and titles on the
investigate Kevin’s disappearance,
I’m not saying that the Steiners are perpetually on
victims’ families, saying that
the delegates decided it was time to
the thin line between sanity and loony tunes, because
innocence bloodied must be
force the issue. After managing to
that’s a myth. The Steiner family has such a reputation
honored. Most accepted her apology
squeeze some bare facts from the
for being icy-cool that when they do show a strong
and even pitied the woman, who
LIC,
they
established
emotion like anger, love, or humor, people around them
seemed to have aged so much
communications
with
the
are so startled that they wonder if that Steiner has
during the crisis. A permanent rift had
approaching Archon and her force.
lost his wits. Of course, holding one’s emotions in is
opened between the Archon and the
After speaking with her, the loyalists
another kind of madness.
Kelswa and Lestrade families,
ceased their filibuster so that the vote
—Interview with Thelos Auburn on The News Hour,
however.
on secession could take place.
Donegal Broadcasting Co., September 19, 3024
Archon Viola Dinesen returned
Timing was everything, and that
to the battlefront in the Rim Worlds
meant the vote must come early on
Republic, where she reassumed her
the 15th of January, 2592. As all the
command of Commonwealth units. Perhaps her recklessness in
Representatives assembled to decide the important question
battle was due to the grief she felt for her mistakes, or perhaps it
that day, disguised agents of the LIC watched the halls and
was a death wish. Whatever the reason, Archon Viola was often
corridors of Government House. The Steering Committee strode
at the head of a charging unit, and the sight of her one-armed
confidently into the hall and moved that the vote be taken. One
Warhammer running against a cloud of tracer bullets became
of the loyalists then moved that it be a voice vote, to which the
commonplace. It was not long before she suffered mortal wounds
Committee graciously agreed. Outside, vengeance appeared
that sent her back to Tharkad. She died there a year before the
high in the morning sky.
Reunification War was ‘won’ by the forces of the Star League.
As the first thump announced the arrival of the Royal Guards,
There were more deaths in this war than in the entire Age of War.
most of the Steering Committee panicked. They guessed correctly
In an ironic twist, First Lord Cameron publicly eulogized Viola
that the Archon suspected that her son was somewhere in
Steiner Dinesen in his announcement of victory, saying she was
Government House. Some remained bravely in their seats as
an inspiration to anyone who wished to rise above the evil in his
LIC officers came to stand guard over them. Others fled the
soul.
chamber, dreading the wrath of the Archon, who was sure to
arrive any moment. LIC agents stationed nearby captured the
fleeing conspirators as they left the building. The true leader of
the kidnappers was the Speaker of the Assembly, Graf Henry
Gram. Hoping to dispose of one last item before taking his own
life, he rushed back toward his private chamber.
Agents of the LIC and the first dismounted MechWarriors
took another way around and apprehended the Speaker just as
he was about to enter his chamber. Searching it, they found
Kevin Dinesen gagged, tied, and hidden in the back of a deep
closet. Though severely dehydrated and weak, he was able to
speak enough to exonerate the Dukes of Tamar and Skye and to
implicate every member of the Steering Committee.
A DropShip landed in front of Government House, and one
its huge panels opened to reveal the Archon in her one-armed
Warhammer. Seeing her son being carried down the steps of
the building, she moved her ‘Mech toward him. At that instant,
DAY OF RAGE
THE GOOD YEARS
The dullest part of acting is waiting for the stage to
be properly set.
—From Life Is A Stage, by Tiftany Acure, People’s
Press, 3022
As bitter memories of the Reunification War slowly faded,
the Star League entered the Good Years, its zenith of prosperity.
For much of the Lyran Commonwealth, these years were
especially good.
Despite the terrible price in men and materials, the
Reunification War did greatly expand the industrial base of the
Commonwealth. Worlds such as Sudeten, Pandora, Carse,
Galatea, and New Kyoto, which had previously been capable
only of agriculture and light industry, now possessed large and
expanding factory complexes. This industrial boom also
stimulated agriculture, with agribusinesses searching for planets
with the potential to feed more than just their native populations.
Under a new taxation system, the LCCS collected revenue
from each individual world instead of from the three pacts, which
assured more fairness. Resupply missions were sent to contact
forgotten’ worlds and colonies. Lyran industries conducted
numerous surveys of new planets in their search for raw
materials. The boom in the economy of the Commonwealth and,
to a lesser degree, the outworlds alliances also helped to
develop the poorer worlds in the Alarion, Coventry, and Trellshire
provinces.
Relieved of the weapon-minded pressures of war,
researchers began to undertake more peaceful projects. One of
these was the intensive study of hyperpulse generators, which
began in 2615 at various prestigious universities and research
complexes. In 2630, the first HPG sent a message into the Lyran
Commonwealth. Five years later, the First Lord’s New Year’s Day
message of 2635 arrived on Tharkad from Terra on January 7,
an incredible feat.
New advances in medicine offered the possibility of truly
bionic limbs made from specially adapted myomer muscle
bundles. Countless wounded veterans and others crippled by
the war soon regained normalcy with these artificial limbs. The
war had also accelerated the development of new techniques
and technologies in trauma surgery. Items such as computerassisted surgery tables and oxygenated cooler covers to slow a
patent’s metabolism became standard equipment in every
hospital in the Star League.
Perhaps the most important discovery was the development
of cheap methods of purifying water. Originally developed by
Star League researchers, the secrets were eventually licensed
out to various industry leaders. Companies like the Water Pure
Industries of Corridan IV and the SnowWaters of
Kwangchowwang were soon manufacturing units that made
possible the settlement of formerly inhabitable planets with
despairing names like Dustball, Persistence, Lost, and Burnt
Rock.
In the Commonwealth, the Estates General was reconvened
in 2611. In 2623, the entire Star League debated whether to
adopt the universal currency that the First Lord was vigorously
proposing. Many Lyran economists and the majority of the
Estates General eagerly supported the idea, but Archon Kevin
feared the currency would interfere with his realm’s industrial
edge. Exerting his executive privilege, the Archon vetoed the
Estates General. To his astonishment, more than 80 percent of
Commonwealth businesses shut down for a week to protest his
action. Faced with such strenuous opposition, the Archon
‘magnanimously’ reversed his decision.
STEINERS TRIUMPHANT
Though these years are remembered for peace
and prosperity, there existed then, as now, a bitter feud
between the Steiner and Dinesen families.
Each sought to dominate the other and to ensure
that their family name lived on among the rulers of the
Commonwealth. The Archon and his family were at first
unaware of the feud, but after a total of twelve Dinesens
and seven Steiners were killed in a two-year period, Kevin
began to suspect what was going on.
The fighting ended only when the Archon used force of
arms and the threat of exile to put a halt to the assassinations.
After considering what facts he had gleaned, the Archon
laid the blame with the Dinesen side. From that time on, he
reverted to the Steiner name. His sister Sarah, on the other
hand, kept the Dinesen name during her reign as Archon.
When Sarah’s son William reclaimed the Steiner name
on his accession to the throne in 2672, that reasserted
forever the glory of the Steiners.
—From The Steiner Dynasty, vol. 3, by Thelos Auburn,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3019
Under the mantle of the Star League, the economies of
individual Lyran worlds were prospering quite well. In a political
about-face, many planetary governments now preferred the
single rule of the Star League’s First Lord, which spawned a
movement to abolish the Commonwealth. What was its purpose,
they argued, now that there were no more wars or borders?
What was the point of financing a huge central government, with
its entrenched bureaucracy and money-eating military, when
both had become obsolete? As this sentiment swelled and
attracted more followers, the question of whether the
Commonwealth should continue came before the Estates
General. It was at this time that Archon Kevin made a rare
appearance before the Representatives to deliver his now
famous speech pleading for the continued existence of the Lyran
Commonwealth.
PLEA FOR THE COMMONWEALTH
My friends, we here are all businessmen in one way or
another. We know the value of most things. We are admired
throughout the Star League as the shrewdest of industrialists.
We even feel a secret pride when someone chides us as
‘Money Demons’ or as ‘Pirates of Profit’, do we not? Well
then, why should we, of all the League’s people, forget what
it means to invest for the future or to set aside emergency
money? How could we fail to realize that some of today’s
profit might be needed tomorrow?
Yes, these have been sainted years, filled with peace
and the sound of money filling our coffers. But are we so
naive as to expect the shower of money to go on forever? No!
And if the shower should end-as showers always do-and the
hot sun of misfortune should reappear to evaporate the profits
of everyone, everywhere-what then? Do you for a moment
believe that cooperation and trust will reign to save the day?
Banks are something that you and I understand. Consider
the Commonwealth government as a bank, not of money but
of a future where we may store good fortune now, to be used
later when times get rough, as surely they Will.
—From Official Transcripts of Government House, Year
2643, Commonwealth Historical Press, 2645
The young corporal pictured here is an assistant
technician, who works with the Warrant Officer to repair
LCAF equipment. Her overalls, like the Warrant Officer’s
jacket, are protection against heat and electricity, the
two most common dangers with repairing sophisticated
machinery. On the right side of her belt is a radiation
detector that doubles as a current meter. She is holding
a small, adjustable spot-welder.
The vote was 161 for the continued existence of the
Lyran Commonwealth, 160 against.
Kevin Dinesen Steiner died in 2647, succeeded by
his sister, Sarah Steiner Dinesen. During her reign, Tadeo
Amaris, leader of the Rim Worlds Republic, began an
extensive military buildup of offensive weapons.
Threatened, the Star League held a major military
exercise of five ‘Mech regiments just outside the Republic’s
domain in 2651. Amaris heard the implied message loud and
clear, and quickly dismantled his excess military units.
After an uneventful reign, Sarah Steiner Dinesen stepped
down as Archon to pursue her writing career. Her son, William
Steiner, assumed the Archonship in 2672.
Inspired by what the large military exercise of 2651 had
taught, the Star League now announced the formation of
Regimental Combat Teams, groups of four combined-arms
regiments to be stationed at strategic points around the League.
The Second Regimental Combat Team, formed from two Striker
Regiments and two Light Horse regiments, came to be
headquartered on the Lyran world of Main Street. Soon
nicknamed ‘Paget’s War Ponies’ after the unit’s commanding
officer, the 2nd RCT became a much-admired model for the
local LCAF.
William Steiner died in his sleep in 2704. His son Jonathan’s
reign was equally peaceful and quiet. The only significant political
question concerned the minimum population requirements for
a world wishing to send a Representative to the Estates General.
Planets in the wilds of the Donegal Protectorate, for example,
prospered like all the rest, yet never seemed to significantly
increase their population. Though these worlds represented a
sizable, combined group of people, the Estates General could
not handle the increased complexities of having another 100
delegates in Government House. Hence, the creation of the
minimum population requirement.
Jonathan Steiner died in a freak ‘Mech accident. His younger
brother, Michael Steiner II, took over as Archon in 2729. Though
peace still reigned, a whirlwind of change was fast approaching.
Bandits, once believed a thing of the past, reappeared early
in Archon Michael’s reign. With particular vengeance, they hit
worlds along the Periphery, near the border with the Draconis
Combine. Fat with years of peace, the garrisons stationed on
those worlds were easily defeated. At his wedding to Duchess
Lestrade, Archon Michael declared that eliminating the bandits
would be his primary concern. Twelve years later, in 2741,
bandits butchered 500 citizens of the world known as The Edge.
They had been armed with ‘Mechs, a new and ominous upgrading
of typical bandit weaponry. The Archon offered a huge reward
for any information about the raiders’ whereabouts.
A year later, acting on the tips received from an anonymous
free trader, the 12th Lyran Regulars dropped onto Butte Hold.
There, they caught the bandits unaware and easily captured
most and killed the rest in a battle on the desert plains. After
being interrogated to the point of torture, the bandits revealed to
the LIC agents that House Kurita had hired and equipped them,
and was also supplying detailed information on targets they
wanted attacked.
Archon Michael angrily confronted Lord Kurita at the next
High Council meeting. When the Lord did not deny the
accusation, Michael leaped on the man and the two began to
struggle violently. The First Lord and several other leaders
jumped into the fray to separate the two. Though they managed
to calm Michael down, he had threatened a war on Kurita, and
was not one to make idle threats.
The Council Lords quickly made it plain that
Kerensky would not have much to say about governing
the Star League. Among their first acts, they passed an
amendment to Michael Cameron’s Edict of 2650, which
I sometimes marvel at those who behave as though
now permitted each member-state’s House military to
good times will last forever. Why should the universe
double in size. It was rumored that Kerensky was enraged
hold still? Why should bad times be any different from
to learn that Star League ‘Mech regiments would no
the good or the indifferent ones, for don’t they all have
longer outnumber House regiments two to one in the military
beginnings, middles, and ends? Good or bad, it’s just another
forces stationed in each realm.
cycle, within a cycle, within a cycle, and it never ends.
The next year, the five Lords passed another edict that
—Robert Steiner II, quoted in The Authorized Biography of Robert
simultaneously raised the taxes levied on the Territorial States
Steiner, by Frela Gibbon, Bently & Hunt, 2782
and gave each Council Lord the right to carve out huge chunks
of the League’s revenue. It did not take much political astuteness
BABE AMONG WOLVES
to see that these five Lords were not only mistrustful of one
When First Lord Simon Cameron was killed inspecting a
another, but greedy enough to forget their responsibility for the
mining colony on New Silesia in February 2751, he left behind
well-being of thousands of worlds and billions of people.
a Star League rife with tensions that had been heating up in
Archon Michael Steiner proved to be no exception. Soon
recent months. Unmarked military units, both conventional and
after passage of the edict allowing state militaries to double in
‘Mech-armed, had begun raiding the border worlds of every
size, the Archon ordered the immediate activation of three
member-state, ushering in a whole new era of fear and dread.
mothballed ‘Mech regiments and the creation of ten additional
Though the media termed these incidents ‘bandit raids’, they
regiments. Nor did Michael object to the sudden windfall of tax
gradually escalated into a war’s worth of quick strikes and
monies that the second edict provided. It was later learned that
retaliations.
much of this new wealth actually ended up in his private coffers.
It soon became obvious that brigands could not be
When news of these edicts from the High Council became
responsible for all the attacks. ‘Bandits’ had become a handy
public, the nobility sensed which way the wind was blowing and
label, a bogeyman to hide the truth that the members of the Star
so began to expand their own private armies. This unilateral
League had begun to prey upon one another, attacking easy
military buildup placed sudden, huge demands on the
targets in neighboring realms.
Commonwealth’s defense industries, whose efforts to supply
In the outworld republics, now called the Territorial States,
both the LCAF and the nobility so unbalanced the Commonwealth
the initial enthusiasm of the Star League’s public relations
economy that it began to pitch and buck like a Tharkan wild
campaign to win the support of the conquered worlds was
horse. These economic problems soon had the public grumbling.
wearing thin. Even the most pro-League fanatic could not deny
Aware of the growing public unrest, the delegates of the Estates
that the League treated its former foes like unimportant, distant
General became increasingly vocal in their public criticism of
relations. “The benevolent Star League, your far away friend”
the Archon and his disloyalty to the Star League.
had proved to be only a publicist’s illusion. The spirit of rebellion
When the Representatives learned that the second edict
was once again brewing in these far-off worlds.
would create a huge boost in revenues, their immediate concern
Unfortunately for the millions of people of the Inner Sphere
was that the money be used for the good of the Commonwealth
and in the reaches of the Periphery, Richard Cameron, who
and not find its way into the private coffers of a few. Some of this
became First Lord after his father Simon’s death, was in no
revenue would result from increased taxation of the Territorial
position to deal with either of these crises. Richard was just a
States. The inhabitants of those far-distant planets had ever been
child of eight when fate named him
volatile, independent, and quick to
ruler of the Star League. Ten long
protest unfair treatment, and this did give
years would pass before he would
BABE IN THE WOODS
cause for worry. Because these new
assume his manhood and the legal
Though the artist’s work was received with great
revenues soon had such a stabilizing
right to the title of First Lord. The
enthusiasm, his largest canvas caused considerable
effect on the general economy, it tended
death of Simon Cameron was
controversy. Titled ‘Lost in the Woods’, this large oil
to lull these latent fears.
more than the end of one powerful
was painted in ominous, dark hues to show a small,
Archon Michael later wrote in his
man’s life, for it set in motion the
frightened child standing alone in a midnight forest.
memoirs that he began to have serious
forces that would lead to the
To either side and behind him are five large wolves,
doubts about the wisdom of the Council
darkest era in human history.
all with glowing eyes and gaping mouths. The
Lords recent decisions while he
The news that the Council
controversy arose when someone noticed the child
approached Terra in 2757. What he saw
Lords had elected Aleksandr
greatly resembled Richard Cameron, and that about
was the Star League fleet in exercise,
Kerensky to be young Cameron’s
the neck of the largest wolf was a chain, from which
its countless warships bristling with
Regent and Protector did ease
dangled something that resembled nothing so much
armaments, which clearly showed
some fears for a time. The General
as a Steiner Fist.
General Kerensky’s displeasure with the
was widely respected and liked.
—From ‘The Kently Exhibition’, Tharkan Art
five Lords. This veiled threat made
Though his elegance could make
News, October 2578
Archon Michael think seriously about
even the highest nobleman look
whether the Council should repeal the
like a peasant by comparison,
two edicts. The moment passed,
Kerensky’s manner was unfailingly kind and warm. He did have
however, and with it, Michael’s chance to influence the terrible
a temper, which his men were careful not to provoke, but
time to come.
Kerensky was more fond of laughter. Kerensky’s appointment
was especially reassuring to the Lyran people because he had
taken his own university training at one of their universities.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE STAR
LEAGUE
The popular image of Archon Michael Steiner II has
him as something of a villain because he did not try very
hard to halt the break up of the Star League. Though
technically true, history must remember that the Archon
was acting to protect himself and the Commonwealth
from the other members of the League.
Some have compared the untimely death of Simon
Cameron to a DropShip suddenly losing its power above a planet,
after which natural forces simply take over. The natural tendencies
among the six Star League member-states were mutual distrust
and greed, born of four centuries of war and intrigue. To blame
Michael Steiner for the breakup of the Star League is naive, for
the forces of history have their own logic and no one man can
alter them.
TERRITORIAL TROUBLES
“Situation untenable. Within the last three hours, rioting
citizens have seized the water, power, and communication
facilities. We have no reserves of water and power. I am using
my ‘Mech’s reactor to power the communications equipment.
“The last ‘Mech reconnaissance patrol, sent three days ago,
reported that the deserters are training civilians to use heavy
weapons. That patrol never returned, and so it must be presumed
lost. Let’s hope they took a few of those traitors with them.
“At the moment. I have one lance of ‘Mechs, a lance of
armor, and four platoons of infantry. Expected size of the enemy
is four times that. I expect the attack to be within the next day or
so. The relief efforts from Petroff continent will not arrive in time.
Though we’ve erected defensive barriers around the post, they
will not hold. Will try to hold on as long possible. Captain Mitchell
Sims, acting commanding officer of Fort Belvoir, New
Vandenberg. Out. End Transmission”.
—Regular Army documents
The huge tax increase passed by the Council Lords did not
sit well with the six Territorial States. Rioting and terrorism, both
aimed at Star League facilities, were their immediate reply to
their new financial burden. The situation in the Periphery had
soon become so serious that General Kerensky was pulled away
from the politics of the Council Lords to protect the League’s
interests in the outworlds. He placed the five Regimental Combat
Teams on alert and activated some of the League’s reserves,
moving them into the Periphery.
By 2759, rioting had become chronic in the six Territorial
States. Though most of these violent demonstrations were
politically inspired, some were food riots because so many poor
Periphery planets had been forced to sell off their harvests to
pay the taxes. This politics of the street quickly evolved into a
highly organized separatist movement. In December 2759, the
LIC learned of a secessionist organization involving high
government officials of the Taurian Concordat. With this proof of
treason, General Kerensky was forced to move all five RCTs
into the Territorial States, occupying key planets and military
bases.
The departure of the 2nd RCT from the far reaches of
Coventry Province created a military vacuum there. A group of
bandits decided to exploit the situation with a raid that devastated
the Lyran world of Main Street, the former home of the 2nd RCT.
In response to the bandit attacks and the general tensions
throughout the Star League, the Archon placed the LCAF on
general alert.
When Michael Steiner II died the next year, his son
Robert Steiner II became Archon. Robert was intelligent
enough to sense how quickly the civilized veneer was
fading from relations among the League members.
Suspicion and competition now reigned where
previously there had been a commitment to mutual
cooperation. The Archon believed that unless something
were done quickly, all would be lost.
IDEALISM AND VILLAINY
Reading habits? Well let’s see. Actually, he was a big fan of
the King Arthur myths. You know, the knights in shining armor,
the Holy Grail, the chivalrous quest, the whole romantic bit. He
read or watched just about anything he could on the subject. By
the time of his 18th birthday, Richard knew as much as any
expert. And he truly believed those myths about chivalry. When
he became First Lord, he got it into his head that it was his holy
duty to rid the League of its enemies and to establish a new
order, a new Camelot among the stars. Poor kid, he didn’t stand
a chance.
—Interview with Justin Hevesta, Weapons Trainer for First
Lord Richard Cameron, in The Downfall: The Star League’s
Last Days, by Kuther Green, McGraw-Douglas Press, 2800
Richard Cameron reached his 18th birthday in 2762. Now
of legal age, he assumed his rightful place as First Lord of the
Star League and took back the reins of power from the Council
Lords. It looked as though the tensions of the last ten years
would end now that a Cameron had reassumed control. They
expected Richard, from a line of so many far-sighted Camerons,
to bring back peace among the stars.
What they did not realize was that while Richard was
growing up, he had been tallying up every insult, every indignity,
every attempt to steal from him his birthright by endangering the
Star League. Though barely into his manhood, Richard’s
memories were full of resentments. Worse than that was his
romantic and naive belief in the myth of benevolent yet forceful
kings ruling over fabled lands of chivalry. Such a youth was illprepared to face off with the five sly and seasoned Council
Lords.
Richard Cameron believed he could right every wrong that
had wounded his ego over the years. Instead of using craftiness
and deceit, the way of true politics, he thought that his position
as First Lord made his wishes non-negotiable. In a delusion of
grandeur, First Lord Cameron issued Executive Order 156 that
bluntly and in no uncertain terms rescinded the edict allowing
the Council to double their armies. His Order 156 also demanded
that the Lords completely disband their private armies.
The Council Lords did not know whether to laugh or be
angry. Though it took several weeks for all five to assemble on
Terra, it did not take them long to reply so scathingly and
venomously to Richard that the astonished young Cameron
repealed the Executive Order. As the youngest among the
Council Lords, Archon Robert II sympathized with the proud but
inexperienced First Lord, but also knew that he must permit no
threat to the Commonwealth’s military.
Even the most peace-loving man or woman in the
Commonwealth had known that Cameron’s order to the Council
Lords was ludicrous. Any initial optimism that the legal First Lord
would be able to restore harmony quickly vanished. As bandit
attacks continued, unrest in the Territorial States increased, and
factories churned out more and more weaponry, the Lyran
Commonwealth continued to make money, but it was with a
growing sense of doom.
What no one yet knew was that Stefan Amaris, leader
of the Rim Worlds Republic, was secretly currying favor
with the First Lord. Because of Stefan’s support for the
young First Lord’s decision to dismantle the various
private armies, Richard Cameron now believed that
Amaris was his only friend. Slowly but surely, Stefan
Amaris managed to take over the role that General
Kerensky had once played in the impressionable First Lord’s
life. The culmination of Amaris’s plans was a secret treaty signed
in 2764 that pledged the help and aid of the Rim Worlds’ military
if ever the First Lord needed assistance.
When New Vandenberg and 17 other Periphery worlds
seceded from the Star League in April 2764, it took no one by
surprise. It was a desperate act, but the people of the Periphery
had become filled with frustration and hate for the Star League.
Indeed, their grievances were legitimate, and many Lyrans,
particularly along the Periphery border, were sympathetic.
General Kerensky quickly ordered his troops to move
against the rebellious worlds. Stripping many Inner Sphere
garrisons, the general organized his troops into three major
forces, each one responsible for the conquest of a group of
planets. Faced with the task of trying to hold much of the same
far-distant territory disputed during the Reunification War,
Kerensky was soon forced to send still more Regular Army units
out from the Inner Sphere. These included troops from the First
Lord’s personal units.
Aware that he was stripping the Terran state of its
military protection, Kerensky suggested that Richard call
on help from private units of individual noblemen known
to be loyal to the First Lord. Richard Cameron vetoed the
proposal, saying that Stefan Amaris’s men would protect
him during the absence of the Regular Army units.
Though Kerensky did not much like the idea of Amaris’s
troops landing on Terra, he held his peace, never in his wildest
dreams imagining what was to come.
By 2766, more than 75 percent of the Regular Star League
Army had been sent beyond the borders of the Inner Sphere. On
Terra, meanwhile, Stefan Amaris’s Rim Worlds troops
outnumbered Star League military units. In hindsight, the danger
of this situation seems obvious, but at the time, the New
Vandenberg rebels rather than the sycophantic Stefan were
considered the enemy.
The emblem on this Warrant Officer’s jacket shows that he
is an expert in the care and maintenance of JumpShips, while
the rank insignia on his sweater collar shows that he is a Warrant
Officer First Class. The ring and hood arrangement around the
officer’s neck is the connection for a helmet worn aboard
JumpShips and DropShips during emergencies, such as during
a decompression or a gas leak. On the Warrant Officer’s right
shoulder is a computer and communication device attached by
velcro strips.
STARVATION AND WARFARE
In 2766, a plague swept through the crops on the
small Lyran world of Blue Diamond. As the planet was
situated near its border with the Terran state, its leaders
decided to seek assistance there instead of from
Summer, its nearest Commonwealth neighbor. After
leaving Blue Diamond, the planet’s elders were not
heard from again. Only much later, it was learned that
they had stumbled into the midst of the Amaris takeover
and been captured, tortured, and executed as
Commonwealth spies. About a third of Blue Diamond’s
population died of starvation before help from the
Commonwealth could arrive.
—From The Star League and the
Commonwealth, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 3014
THE USURPER
When the Terran Member-State suddenly went quiet in late
2767, most of its fellow League members believed that it was
only a disturbing but minor flaw in the system, which would soon
be corrected. When communications were finally restored,
strange and harsh voices announced that the Cameron family
had been executed and that Stefan Amaris had that day
proclaimed himself the new ruler of the Star League.
As the news spread like shock waves from a blast, most
Lyrans at first simply refused to believe it. There had not been
anything even vaguely resembling a takeover since the days of
the rogue Estates General in 2590, almost two centuries before.
Most ordinary Lyrans had taken comfort from the fact that a
Cameron was back in power, and that the family’s rule would
probably continue forever once the Star League waded through
its present troubles.
The truth finally sank in as they watched their holoscreens
show the usurper Stefan Amaris seated on the League throne,
grinning rather stupidly. Though there may have been a minute
percentage who would have followed Amaris, most people
realized that the murder of the Cameron family was also Star
League’s death knell unless someone acceptable to the Council
Lords came forward to start a new dynasty.
What happened instead was General Kerensky’s declaration
of war against the Usurper, with both sides pleading for military
help from the armies of the Council Lords. Long after the First
Succession War had begun, Archon Robert II described the
strange logic that made him decide to refuse to help Kerensky:
“Who knew whether we would gain anything by helping General
Kerensky? If he won without our help, we would still have been
among the Council to choose who would become the next First
Lord. If he lost, then Stefan Amaris would still have had to deal
with us, fighting us if he dared. Either way, we would be in control.
If we had chosen to fight with General Kerensky, our military would
have been even more decimated than it is today, and how would
we have defended ourselves in the terrible years to come?”
Many Lyrans and their leaders were outraged at
the Archon’s refusal to fight alongside the General. The
Speaker of the Assembly called Robert Steiner a coward
of the worst order-a calculating coward. There were mass
demonstrations on many worlds, protesting the Archon’s
lack of character and complete lack of loyalty.
Many brave citizens actually left the Commonwealth
to join Kerensky. The General gladly accepted these ‘Loyalists’,
as they came to be known, into his army. He even managed to
set up a makeshift MechWarrior school on Circinus, where he
trained many of the Loyalists to pilot ‘Mechs in the years 2768 to
2772, which was the quiet before the storm. These Loyalists
eventually formed light ‘Mech units, equipped with ‘Mechs
secretly purchased from Commonwealth and Marik factories. In
their ‘Mechs decorated with the royal purple stripes, the Loyalists
served with great distinction as reconnaissance units in the war,
though their casualties were always among the highest.
During this time, the 3rd RCT, also known as the Eridani
Light Horse, had just rotated back to the Inner Sphere from the
Periphery. At the moment, it was the only Regular Army force
close enough and large enough to actively oppose the armies
of Stefan Amaris. Colonel Ezra Bradley, commander of the 3rd
RCT, divided his troops into four separate regiments. They then
ran countless hit-and-run missions against the worlds in the
Terran Member-State, disrupting Amaris’s defensive
preparations.
Though officially neutral, the Lyran Commonwealth, the Free
Worlds League, and the Federated Suns all provided the Light
Horse units with refuge within their borders. Using League
facilities on Steiner, Marik, and Davion planets, the Eridani Light
Horse also received intelligence reports, ammunition, and other
supplies from these secretly sympathetic governments. House
Kurita, on the other hand, refused the Eridani Light Horse
admittance into its realm. Lord Kurita may have even given
assistance to Amaris, though evidence for this remains sketchy.
When it became obvious that General Kerensky was
preparing to move the Regular Army out of the Periphery and
back toward Terra, Archon Robert Steiner issued a communiqué
to the General. In it, the Archon offered the Regular Army
permission to travel through the Commonwealth and to use its
Star League facilities freely.
It took eight years to defeat Stefan the Usurper, and some of
those countless battles were fought with a ruthlessness Kerensky
had never before shown in combat. Perhaps it was an enraged
sorrow for the fact that he had contributed to this disastrous turn
of events by not taking a stronger stand with the naive First Lord.
His rage soon permeated the entire Regular Army, who fought
without pity and without mercy against the enemy. The war finally
ended when General Kerensky, piloting his olive-drab Orion,
smashed opened the thick gates of the Star Palace, where the
Amaris family cowered.
There was no mercy for the Usurper and his family any
more than for his former army. After the barest sham of a trial,
Stefan Amaris and his family were executed for high treason.
General Kerensky then reassumed his title of Protector and
awaited the arrival of the five Council Lords.
FINAL ACTS
Many have wondered why General Kerensky did
not simply take total control of the Star League. The
common people in every one of the member-states
revered and admired him almost to the point of worship.
Personally, I believe that the thought never even crossed
his mind. He was a military man to the core, with no interest in
ruling over anything more than his soldiers.
As a man accustomed to discipline and purpose, he would
probably been driven mad trying to cope with the disorganization
of the Star League.
—An interview with the Duke of Skye, Meet the Press,
Skye Broadcasting Co., March 3, 2785
In the months immediately after General Aleksandr
Kerensky took back Terra, many people would have been
relieved to see him become the new First Lord of the Star League.
Even if the Council Lords had been amenable to the idea,
Kerensky’s age and lack of either family or heirs would only
have postponed the inevitable for a few brief years. The fantasy
of Kerensky as the savior of the Star League and a kind of
father-protector of its people collided with political reality when
the Council Lords reconvened in October 2780. The five Lords
stripped Aleksandr Kerensky of the title of Protector, with precious
little praise or thanks. They then ordered him to remove all
Regular Army units still on Terra for posting to garrison duty on
the other worlds of the Terran realm.
When later questioned why he had been a party to such
odious treatment of Kerensky, the Archon replied that he voted
for his demotion out of kindness. He wanted to see the aging
hero able finally to rest from responsibility after his many years
of battle. Whether Robert spoke truly or not, Kerensky’s demotion
gave the impression that the General was somehow at fault for
the Usurpation. The Loyalists, who were just returning to their
homes, were outraged at this implication of guilt. On several
occasions, Loyalists organized demonstrations in the
Commonwealth to demand that the Archon support General
Kerensky’s reinstatement as Protector.
These protests often turned into riots, but had no effect.
What now occurred would have been farcical if the results had
not been so tragic. Each Council Lord graciously nominated
himself as the new First Lord, deluded that the other four would
somehow see the light and then elect him on the spot. At this
obvious point of stalemate, the five reverted to secret offers,
secret deals, and other behind-the-scenes machinations. They
promised money, land, even whole groups of planets to one
another in an attempt to gain the First Lordship. None of it worked,
for each Council Lord believed adamantly that only he was
capable of ruling the Star League. In August 2781, the High
Council was officially dissolved and each of the five Lords
departed Terra for his own realm. The Star League was no more.
Perhaps the strain of recent events made Robert Steiner
susceptible to a particularly virulent case of pneumonia. He fell
ill and died almost immediately upon return home. Who knows
what might have happened had he lived, because the people
were still angry at how he had refused Kerensky’s appeal for
help and at rumors of his promises to deal out huge chunks of
the Commonwealth in exchange for the title of First Lord. There
had even been mutterings of impeachment.
The new Archon was Jennifer Steiner, the late ruler’s
sister. Though her brother’s death had relieved some of
the pressure that had been building, she still had to face
the brunt of widespread criticism of Robert Steiner’s
decisions over the past decade, which the public
believed were motivated by a desire to bring down the
Star League.
Though animosity toward the Steiners was high, neither
the Tamar Pact nor the Federation of Skye seemed disposed to
dissolve the Lyran Commonwealth. It may have been just as
well, because keeping their government intact was the least of
all the evils facing the body politic at that moment.
Archon Jennifer and her brother Paul, commander of the
LCAF, now began actively to woo remnants of Stefan Amaris’s
forces to build up the Commonwealth’s forces. The other four
House Lords were also beefing up their military strength to a
state of general preparedness. Though the wise General
Kerensky tried to avert the inevitable by pleading for compromise
and negotiations, the five Lords seemed set on their path toward
war. The pleas of an aging hero were hardly enough to stop
them.
EXODUS
Leaving? What do you mean ‘leaving’? To where?
He can’t leave. Who is going to pick up the pieces after
we beat each other into oblivion?
—Archon Jennifer’s reaction to the news of Gen.
Kerensky’s exodus, quoted in The Star League and
The Commonwealth, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 3014
When the news arrived on Tharkad, most people assumed
that Kerensky had had enough and was now going to punish
someone for going too far. What the reports described was an
incredible rendezvous of Regular Army units around the Kurita
world of New Samarkand. It had to be some kind of major mission.
While those many regiments gathered around their planet, the
people of Samarkand trembled in fear, for those ships seemed
to outnumber the stars in the night sky.
Instead of attacking, however, this massive gathering of
forces turned to leave the Inner Sphere, their destination
unknown. Weeks passed, and still they did not return. When
more weeks went by, the realization hit home that Kerensky and
his followers had no intention of coming back. It saddened many
to think that this was the General’s last noble statement. And the
message was clear. Seeing that the ideals he revered no longer
had any place among the rivalry of the five former Council Lords,
he and his men had simply decided not to stay where they were
no longer welcome.
Many legends have grown up around General
Kerensky and the exodus of the Regular Army. As it is
with other beloved leaders such as King Arthur, Roland,
Gandhi, Captain Minos, and Duke Greerdon, the myths
that have grown up around Kerensky and his men
reflect our yearning to live as men and women of
righteousness, honesty, and nobility.
Once such myth concerns Jessica LeQue, wife of
one of Kerensky’s aides. Beautiful, lithe, and goldenhaired, she was a native of the Commonwealth world
of Alarion. Born to a noble family, Jessica had been
raised to love her native planet deeply. Later, she felt
the same deep connection to the handsome Major
Winson, aide to General Kerensky. When they married,
Jessica trusted that fate would be kind enough to allow
her both her loves when the Major retired to Alarion.
There, they would grow old together, taking long walks
hand in hand across her beloved lands.
When the exodus orders came, Jessica was torn
between love for her land and for her husband. It was
not until just an hour before the last transport was to
leave Alarion for the rendezvous at New Samarkand
that she finally made her decision. Jessica Winson
arrived perhaps a moment too late at the spaceport,
for just then, the transport had arched into the night
sky, leaving her behind. From there, the distraught
woman wandered into the nearby forest, where several
weeks later she was found dead.
On Alarion, there is a native tree that is tall, slim,
and crowned with golden leaves. At night, the fronds
of the tree reach up and unfurl to collect the silvery
moonlight. Ever since Jessica Winsom’s death, these
have been known as Jessica Trees, the reaching of
their golden fronds like Jessica’s hopeless gesture as
the night sky took away her husband forever.
—From Commonwealth Myths and Legends, by
Ketter Seabody, Commonwealth Historical Press, 2987
FIRST SUCCESSION WAR
Only history will be able to tell us which is the natural
condition of man, war or peace.
—From Descent: My Life at the Helm of the
Commonwealth, by Jennifer Steiner, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 2790
MILITARY READINESS
The attention of the five Successor Houses soon turned
away from General Kerensky’s departure toward those Regular
Army units that had decided to stay. The Eridani Light Horse, the
12th Heavy Assault Regiment, the 25th Striker Regiment from
Paget’s War Ponies, and an assortment of other units were still
within the borders of the Terran Member-State. At first secretly,
then more and more openly, the five houses began bidding for
the services of those veteran units. Archon Jennifer decided to
approach tactfully, showing respect for the history and traditions
of these soldiers.
Her approach must have been successful, for in 2785, she
had managed to sign five heavy regiments to long-term contracts.
She placed them along the Kurita border, because it was the
serpent banner of the Draconis Combine that she feared most.
The Archon had also managed to sign the 23rd Republic Light
Lancers, nicknamed the Stealths, formerly of the Amaris military.
They were well-known for their quick-strike capability. Together
with the Tamar Tigers, a house regiment of the Duke of Tamar,
the two formed the Commonwealth’s only ‘Mech regiments
capable of highly mobile hit-and-run operations.
In August 2785, a large ‘bandit’ raid at Bone-Norman and
the threat of others along the Periphery made the LCAF High
Command shift its emphasis away from the Kurita border and
toward the Periphery. This went exactly as House Kurita had
planned it, for they were behind the attack on Bone-Norman. It
has been estimated that the Draconis Combine secretly
employed some 20 so-called bandit groups to harass the Lyran
Commonwealth and the Federated Suns.
Seizing their opportunity, the Combine struck at the
Commonwealth worlds of Trolloc Prime and Gram, whose
garrisons had been weakened by the shift of forces. It took just
three months to drive the Lyran defenders off those planets. It
was those defeats that began to make the Steiner high command
question the wisdom of ‘the bigger the ‘Mech, the better’, the
philosophy that underlay Lyran military policy for 300 years.
Most Commonwealth regiments were equipped with large, slow
‘Mechs and tanks, all of which were easily outmaneuvered by
the light Kurita units.
Though the defeats at Trolloc Prime and Gram might have
been provocation enough, the Archon was not ready to declare
full-scale war, and did little more at this time except to further
reinforce her border worlds.
In June 2786, an unmarked freighter entered the Skondia
system. Unchallenged, it moved past the picket line of
Commonwealth warships to drop a Kurita ‘Mech regiment on
the surprised planetary defenders below. Caught totally off guard,
the Commonwealth garrison decided to surround the major
industrial complexes and wait for the expected attack. The Kurita
forces attacked the cities instead, where they indiscriminately
mowed down the civilian population. While the defenders moved
ponderously to protect their citizens, another detachment of fastmoving Draconis ‘Mechs flanked the defending forces and hit
the now-undefended industrial complexes, which the seized.
The news of this incredible embarrassment resulted
in a complete shakeup of the Commonwealth high
command. Procedures for system security were
revamped, and the issue of protecting more than just the
important industrial targets was addressed. While all this
was going on, the ordinary Lyran was trying to come to
grips with the reality that all-out war would now be fought
in his own realm for the first time since the era of Margaret Olsen
centuries before.
There was a brief respite for them as the Combine
temporarily turned its attention toward the Federated Suns, which
it now saw as the more dangerous of its two neighbors.
DECLARATIONS OF WAR
To assert brazenly that he is somehow better and more
fitted to rule than any of the rest is the act of an egotistical mana man hardly fit to rule over his own realm, let alone over us all.
I, Jennifer Colley Steiner, 17th ruler of the Lyran Commonwealth,
have as much a claim to rule the Star League as Minoru Kurita
or any of the others.
Unfortunately, all this talk about who should rule the Star
League is moot. There is no Star League, it left with General
Kerensky, and we should realize that fact. Now our focus must
be on creating peace among our realms until we have something
to replace the Star League.
I dream of peace. Though some of you may consider me
weak for saying that, you must also remember that I am the
Archon sworn to protect these lands. No matter how much I
cherish peace, I will defend this realm, at any cost, even if it be
the terrible price of war.
—Reply of Archon Jennifer Steiner to Lord Kurita’s claim
of the First Lordship, from Descent: My Life at the Helm of the
Commonwealth, by Jennifer Steiner, Commonwealth
Historical Press. 2790
With great pomp and circumstance, Minoru proclaimed
himself the First Lord of the Star League in December 2786, and
declared war on anybody who did not like it.
In reply, Archon Jennifer announced in her New Year’s Eve
message to the Commonwealth that she also claimed the title of
First Lord. Her words were spoken more in irony than out of any
intention to claim leadership of the rotting remains of the Star
League. She went on, however, to announce that she was
declaring war on the Draconis Combine for their recent raids,
warning the other Successor Houses of her will and determination
to protect what belonged to the Commonwealth.
Among all the defense industries, the shipyards that made
JumpShips, DropShips, and other aircraft were the most
vulnerable. Because they orbited around a planet or a moon,
the facilities could be attacked from countless directions. To
successfully defend one of them would require a whole fleet,
which the admirals of the Free Worlds League knew very well.
Early in 2787, Marik warships attacked Commonwealth
shipyards all along the border. Though the Steiner forces
expended many warships and AeroSpace Fighters defending
the shipyards, the Marik attackers succeeding in damaging the
facilities beyond repair. To protect what remained of her shipyards,
the Archon ordered them dismantled and moved away from the
fighting.
THE BOLSON SHIPYARDS
The Bolson Shipyards were a major shipbuilding
facility orbiting the large moon of the Kyoto system.
The five box-like construction bays had manufactured
JumpShips for the LCAF, as well as freighters and
pleasurecraft for the private sector.
When war seemed imminent, the Steiner high command
sent five squadrons of corvettes and the 53rd AeroSpace
Interceptors to guard Bolson Shipyards. The forces were
divided up into five separate groups to protect the high
approach to the shipyards and the four approaches on the
sides of the shipyard. Even though their combined firepower
was awesome, Commander Hauptmann-Kommodore Ustus
Tillbert would have welcomed still more.
On February 14, a major attack force of House Marik
ships appeared at the zenith jump point. One battlecruiser,
two cruisers, and three squadrons of destroyers detached
from their jump drive riggings and began a high-speed
approach to the Bolson Shipyards. Three days later, the battle
was engaged.
LCS Augustus, a Mako Class corvette, was the
first casualty. It was attacked first by Marik fighters,
then by the destroyers Ripper and Tomain, which
flanked the ship.
FWLS Rasalas was a surplus Star League
battlecruiser that the Free Worlds League had
purchased five years before. Six minutes into the battle, FWLS
Rasalas shook loose from the remaining Commonwealth
corvettes and headed toward the shipyards. It was immediately
engaged by a wing of Chippewa Class AeroSpace Fighters
led by Colonel Thompson in his fighter, ‘The Tracy’. Within a
minute, his twelve fighters were reduced to just five. Among
those the Colonel thought he had lost was his wife in her
fighter, ‘The Hepburn’.
The Colonel’s next action must have been motivated by
the thought that his wife was dead. Ordering his remaining
fighters to divert the Marik fighter escort, he began to execute
a long turn-and-burn toward the battlecruiser Rasalas.
Somehow managing to evade the gigantic warship’s laser
and missile barrage, Thompson aimed his fighter with
precision, impacting against the big ship’s underbelly. This
was where the ship’s fuel cell for the drive and maneuver
engines were stored. The warship was disabled, without any
control over its trajectory, and so had to be abandoned before
it crashed. Unfortunately, it plunged squarely into the Bolson
Shipyard facilities, with a huge explosion that totally destroyed
the shipyards.
Leutnant-Colonel Rebecca Thompson, pilot of the
Commonwealth AeroSpace fighter ‘The Hepburn’, recovered
from her injuries and went on to a glorious career as a fighter
pilot. Her fighter remained black-painted in memory of her
husband and his suicide mission.
—From Launch Order: The Commonwealth
AeroSpace Force in the First War, by Refarra
Tels, Donegal Martial Books, 2890
That same month, House Kurita returned to attack
Skondia once more. A major armada of Combine
warships arrived at the nadir jump point, fought its way
past the jump station defenders, and headed toward the
planet. After the previous humiliation, the Commonwealth
had heavily reinforced Skondia with three ‘Mech
regiments and a major fleet of orbiting warships. This
time, they would at least be able to put up a fight.
In one of the largest ship-to-ship engagements of the
Succession Wars, the Kurita fleet managed to drive a wedge of
ships down toward the planet. After dropping their ground forces,
the Kurita ships returned to reengage the Commonwealth ships.
Of the nearly 300 Lyran ships and fighters of various classes
and sizes, only about 100 remained at battle’s end. In the ground
fighting, which the Lyrans carried out uncharacteristically well,
the Kurita forces were nevertheless able to drive the defenders
from Skondia after four months of fighting.
The Combine was also deeply involved in an offensive
against House Davion at that time. Content with the conquest of
Skondia and the wedge it had created deep into the
Commonwealth, Kurita decided to restrict its actions against the
Commonwealth to a series of border attacks while concentrating
on its Davion borders. Battalion-sized, these attacks were meant
to pin Commonwealth forces to their own planets and disrupt
any offensives the LCAF may have been contemplating. Some
worlds, such as The Edge, were so underdefended that what
began as a simple raid soon developed into a full-blown invasion
when the Kurita forces realized that the planet would be easy
pickings.
PATTERNS OF WAR
Though it has been about two centuries since the last major
attack using nuclear and chemical weapons occurred, we still
live with the effects of those outrages today. The number of birth
defects attributed to genetic damage sustained by the infants’
long-dead ancestors has only recently begun to drop off. This in
no way means that the figure is small. We estimate about a
million per year.
The secondary effects of the chemical and nuclear attacks
on the land have also begun to drop off slightly. The constant
influx of untainted plants and animals helped to dilute the effects
of those tainted lifeforms, but at considerable cost. There are still
large tracts of land unsuited for use, not to mention the occasional
nasty surprise, like a radioactive dumpsite or an unexploded
biological weapon found buried beneath the soil.
The target sites, usually cities, are called Dead Zones if
created by a nuclear weapon, Poison Pits if created by chemical
weapons, and Rats’ Nests if created by biological weapons. If
wearing a light environmental suit, humans can usually remain
safely in these places for about three hours. Any longer and the
visitor risks contamination. Unfortunately, many hundreds of
treasure hunters comb these cities every year, seemingly with
no concern for the health risks. That has resulted in a rise in the
number of radiation and chemical sicknesses, reintroducing a
whole new generation of physicians to the horrifying effects of
those evil weapons.
—From Report on the Long-Term Effects of Nuclear,
Chemical, and Biological Weapons Used in the First
Succession War, Commonwealth Military Press, 3025
Any hopes that the five Successor States would hold
to the relatively humane Ares Convention in their wars
died as quickly as they were born. Attacks on population
centers and the deliberate hunting down of civilians
became accepted practice among all five militaries. These
wars also saw the regular use of archaic nuclear,
chemical, and biological weapons-not to destroy military
targets, but to destroy whole populations.
Though the Archon did not approve of these tactics, she
allowed her commanders to do as they saw fit. In the meantime,
she considered various plans for evacuating civilians and
industries from the border worlds. For a military and an economy
already under strain, the cost of transporting so many people
and machines was exorbitant, and so the Archon regretfully laid
the plans aside.
By 2788, the war had settled into a definite pattern. The
usual military strategy of driving into enemy territory to seize
planets became a secondary goal. The major objective of this
war was to cripple one’s opponent by destroying his industries.
Carried out by units specially trained for quick-strike actions,
these raids were so successful that shortages now became
commonplace throughout the Inner Sphere.
In 2789, the baneful effects of war were now so spread
throughout the Commonwealth that the Archon had to
commandeer the majority of existing commercial freighters and
transport ships for military use. That meant most merchant
companies were no longer able to maintain their normal routes,
leaving countless worlds in the outlying provinces without regular
service. Some worlds could fend totally for themselves, of course,
but many others were so dependent on freighters for food that
the war hit hard even in places that would never see a ‘Mech or
enemy soldier.
TIGERS AND STEALTHS
Though the public may have forgotten them, any military
man worth his salt remembers and studies the actions of the
Tamar Tigers and the Stealths, perhaps the most successful
Commonwealth regiments of all time.
—From The Use of the BattleMech in Modern Combat, by
Gen. Katrina Steiner, Commonwealth Military Press, 3006
Lightning-fast search-and-destroy missions represented
exactly the kind of warfare the LCAF could not hope to win
because heavy ‘Mechs so dominated its units. It had only two
regiments, the Tamar Tigers and the Stealths, plus a few smaller
units, that were trained in such tactics. In March and April of
2787, these two regiments gave the Commonwealth its most
successful raids against House Kurita. They would continue to
prove their skills throughout the war, but the LCAF was able on
only a few occasions to fight anything but a defensive war.
The Tamar Tigers, originally the 1st Tamar Hussars, had
been the pride and joy of the various Dukes of Tamar from the
time the unit became the first of their private troops to receive
‘Mechs in 2465. Since then, the Tamar Tigers always got the
best the Duke could afford, and so the regiment was wellequipped and well-trained. When Robert Steiner reasserted
Steiner control over the Commonwealth, for some odd reason,
he limited the size of ‘Mechs that private units could field. As a
result, the Tamar Tigers never had any heavy ‘Mechs, which
allowed them to become expert in swift and mobile warfare. The
Tamar Tigers quickly gained a reputation as flamboyant and
daring characters both in and out of battle.
During the First Succession War, the Tamar Tigers
made several important raids. The first and most
significant was against Luthien, the capital of the
Draconis Combine. In March 2787, the Tamar Tigers
escorted by the LCS Nightwind, a Potemkin Class cruiser,
made a series of difficult and tricky jumps to reach
Luthien’s jump point.
As the LCS Nightwind engaged and destroyed the shipyards
orbiting the planet, the Tamar Tigers dropped onto the world,
where they destroyed a ‘Mech factory, a food processing plant,
and an ammunition factory. Though the loss of these industries
did not much affect such a heavily industrialized planet, it did
cause considerable psychological damage, and there have been
at least four ‘Mech regiments stationed on Luthien ever since.
For the next 20 years, the Tamar Tigers carried out successful
raids against worlds such as Pomme De Terre, Styx, Telos IV,
and Kervil, providing at least a few bright spots in House Steiner’s
otherwise dismal record of defeats and lost planets.
In 2801, acting on bogus information, the Tigers dropped
onto Benjamin, an industrialized Combine world. To their surprise,
three crack Kurita regiments met and engaged the Tigers even
as they dropped. Warships and fighters also attacked and
destroyed the Tigers’ JumpShip, stranding the regiment on
Benjamin. The Tamar Tigers were lost, but not before gutting the
planet’s capital city and taking with them a regiment’s worth of
Kurita ‘Mechs.
The Stealths were the exact opposite of the Tamar Tigers in
style and attitude. First created during Tadeo Amaris’s buildup of
2650, the unit was known for its direct, no-nonsense approach
to combat as well as the very well-mannered demeanor of its
members when off the field. Though often used in the
same manner as the Tamar Tigers, the Stealth also had
several heavy ‘Mech companies in their regiment, which
made the unit ideally suited to breakout duty. This involved
identifying a weakness in the enemy line, opening it
with heavy ‘Mechs, and then punching through it into the
enemy’s rear with the swifter light ‘Mechs.
In April 2787, the Stealths, aided by a heavy ‘Mech regiment,
attacked the strategic Kurita world of Dieron. This attack began
with Commonwealth escort warships successfully destroying
the shipyards in orbit around the planet. As the Stealths and the
other ‘Mech regiment dropped onto Dieron, several squadrons
of Kurita warships that had been hiding in an asteroid and metal
slag cloud about one of the planets moons engaged the Steiner
warships. After the battle drifted out of the system, none of the
ships were ever heard from again. The theory is that they either
destroyed one another completely or that the survivors did not
have enough fuel to make it back into the system.
The ‘Mech action by the Stealths was a success, however.
Though they and the other regiment were unable to establish a
secure beachhead for reinforcements, they did succeed in
destroying several key Dieron industries.
In December 2788, after the Stealths had served with great
honor on the Kurita front, they were transferred to the Marik front.
This war zone was not as active or as dangerous as the Kurita
front, but the Steiner commanders needed a quick-strike unit to
cripple worlds used by House Marik as supply depots and staging
areas. Oddly enough, the Stealth regiment ended up spending
more of its time defending Lyran worlds while on the Marik front
than attacking enemy worlds.
In early 2789, the Stealths were involved in the
defense of Lyran worlds that had once belonged to the
Terran Member-State. Military strategists in the Federated
Suns had tried to catch the Commonwealth napping by
attacking several of these planets, then holding the
defenders until their reinforcements could arrive. To help
repulse the invasion, the Steiner commanders stripped
units from the Marik border and sent them to drive Davion’s units
off Thorin, New Earth, and Rocky. The bitter fighting left these
planets almost completely destroyed and uninhabitable.
The next ten years saw the Stealths participating in
numerous raids against planets in the Free Worlds League.
During the Commonwealth offensive of 2790, the Stealths
successfully attacked Sirius, Graham IV, and Oliver, wreaking
havoc on enemy units and supplies.
In 2811, the Stealths had been sent for a well-deserved rest
to the supposedly peaceful world of Poulsbo, which House Marik
had marked as the first world it planned to seize in a major new
offensive. What the Marik generals did not know was that two
veteran AeroSpace Wings had recently been stationed on
Poulsbo to further hone their skills in preparation for frontline
duty.
When the Marik attack force appeared, the veteran
AeroSpace fighters had been carrying out maneuvers behind
Poulsbo’s moon. While the Marik units attacked the Stealths, the
fighters remained hidden on the moon’s small mining colony.
They then split into two groups. One would engage the
DropShips and their escorting fighters. The other group, along
with a DropShip of Lyran marines, went after the Marik JumpShip.
To buy the fighters enough time to reach the
JumpShip, the Stealths had to fight a series of delaying
actions against a superior number of House Marik
‘Mechs. So skillful were they that many of those battles
have now become basic computer exercises for Lyran
military cadets.
Many of the officers from the Stealths eventually
were assigned as teachers at the LCAF military academy, in
hopes that some of their expertise would rub off on the
Commonwealth military.
ATTACKS ON HESPERUS II
To say that the BattleMech factories on Hesperus II are vital
to our continued existence is to state the obvious. Defiance
Industries is responsible for over 30 percent of our BattleMech
production. With the loss of our factories on Sudeten and Yed
Posterior, that percentage can only climb higher. Hesperus isn’t
just vital; it’s everything.
—From Strategic Points of Defense Within the
Commonwealth, by Gen. Takashi Myoo, Commonwealth
Military Press, 2789
After the fall of the Star League, the Commonwealth
immediately took steps to protect its vital BattleMech factories
on Hesperus II. First, they moved the free-standing buildings
into man-made caves; those that could not be moved were
reinforced and armed, becoming virtual fortresses. Next, the
approaches to the factories were laced with an array of sensors
and weapon bunkers. Finally, the LCAF stationed at least two
veteran ‘Mech regiments, supported by AeroSpace Fighters,
armor, infantry, and artillery, on the planet at all times.
The first attack against the factories came in
December 2787 when four Kurita ‘Mech regiments made
their way deep into the Commonwealth to Hesperus II.
The attack was in retaliation for the Tamar Tigers’ raid on
Luthien earlier that year. The Kurita commanders hoped
to cripple the Commonwealth by combining planetary
bombardment and ‘Mech assault in a single action. They
dreamed of the glory of the kill and the lesson they would teach
the Steiner scum.
As the warships of the Draconis Combine attempted to enter
orbit around Hesperus to begin their assault, a Steiner flotilla
blocked the Kurita ships’ every attempt to get into position. In a
rage, the Kurita commander took his frustration out on the orbiting
shipyards, an easy target whose melted remains gave the Kurita
soldiers some small satisfaction. On the ground, however, the
mountainous Hesperus terrain and the mountains of metal
known as Atlas ‘Mechs created a hurdle that the Kurita forces
could not overcome. They withdrew in January, taking more
casualties than they had given.
In April 2788, the second attempt to destroy Defiance
Industries took place. Units from the Federated Suns, mostly
light and high-speed ‘Mechs, attempted to rush the factories,
where they would grab supplies, then destroy as much as they
could before leaving. The Davion attackers managed to do
neither because guards in the observation posts and bunkers in
the many mountain passes noted the enemy’s approach, giving
the defenders plenty of time to prepare.
In March 2789, the third battle for Hesperus II occurred
when warships from the Free Worlds League made their way to
the planet. Attempting to learn from Kurita and Davion’s mistakes,
the Marik naval officers tried an unusual vector approach to the
planet, so that their large warships might slip past the defenders
to bombard the factories from space. They had no way of knowing
that the Commonwealth had decided, just days previously, to
reinforce the fleet about the planet with the cruisers LCS Granite
and Endeavor.
As the enemy fleet made their way toward the planet, the
two Lyran cruisers engaged the two largest ships in the enemy
fleet, the cruisers FWLS Devastator and Skulker. Like the ancient
ships-of-the-line from Terra’s naval history, the four spaceships
lined up in two rows and raked each other with laser and missile
fire in repeated passes. FWLS Devastator quickly got the better
of the older LCS Granite. Fleet Admiral Oscar F. Dewey,
commander of the Granite, soon realized he was about to lose
the entire battle unless he could act quickly.
The Admiral ordered his ship to ram the Devastator. The
cruiser, never a graceful thing, swung hard about like an enraged
whale and, with its beweaponed prow, breached the side of the
Devastator. The fog of escaping atmosphere obscured the
Granites inexorable slide into the bowels of the enemy ship. As
the Endeavor and Skulker were busy trading volleys, neither
was able to warn their comrades of a very important fact. The
ramming had altered the physics of the Granite’s and the
Devastator’s orbits. They were now rapidly failing toward
Hesperus.
As soon as Admiral Dewey realized the situation, he ordered
the maneuver engines to fire. Slowly, the Granite extricated itself
from its victim. The two ships’ hulls began to glow as they began
their entry into the upper atmosphere of the planet. With a great
shudder, the Granite pulled free of the Devastator. As the two
slowly separated, the Devastator rolled onto its side like a wounded
animal and bled bits of metal that melted in the rising heat.
The Granite, its nose a mangle of ripped and twisted
metal, fought to keep above the ocean of air. As the
minutes passed, it became evident that the ramming
action had destroyed the cruiser’s ability to maneuver
effectively. The great ship, a veteran of the Reunification
War, was doomed. Giving the abandon ship order, the
Admiral watched as his men piled into the shuttles that
would be launched for pick-up by the victorious Endeavor. Seeing
that they now had no clear advantage over the Steiner fleet, the
remaining Marik forces decided to withdraw.
The hulks of the Granite and the Devastator had by now
entered Hesperus’s atmosphere. Though almost completely
burned away in the fiery reentry, huge chunks of the two ships
eventually crashed very near the ‘Mech factories.
THE MILITARY REALITIES
Despite the many victories of the Tamar Tigers and the
Stealths, as well as the successful defense of Hesperus II, the
war was not going well for the Lyran Commonwealth. Because
of inept leaders and an overabundance of heavy ‘Mechs, its
units were unable to cope with lighter and more agile ‘Mech
units, resulting in the loss of many lives and worlds.
In 2790, House Steiner attempted to launch a major
offensive. Its primary goal was to strike at major enemy industrial
centers on both fronts. Holding an enemy planet was deemed a
secondary goal, only to be attempted when the opportunity arose.
On the Kurita front, the Tamar Tigers struck at Styx, Telos IV, and
Kervil, while other units of the LCAF struck Dyev and Dieron. On
the Marik front, the Stealths attacked Sirius, Graham IV, and
Oliver, while the other Steiner units of the offensive hit Dieudonne,
Bordon, and Savannah. The Archon actively participated by
leading the 4th Royal Guards’ assault on Styx.
McCREEDOM’S DEVILS
In all three wars, when enemy forces were
stranded because they had lost either their
vehicles or their way off Hesperus, they reformed
as guerrilla units. The most famous of these
came from the remnants of a Kurita ‘Mech
battalion that, after being pummeled in the first
battle of Hesperus, took to the mountains around
the factories.
For the next three years, this band of 20
men and women, led by a Captain McCreedom,
harassed truck convoys moving to and from the
factories to the spaceport. They had seized their
weapons from an arms convoy after destroying
it with a rock slide that pushed the trucks off the
road into a steep ravine. Their ambushes soon
proved so damaging that heavily armed
helicopters and armor units had to escort all
later convoys, even though it slowed them down
to a crawl.
In their three years in the hills,
McCreedom’s Devils, as they became known,
destroyed some 150 trucks, along with their
valuable cargos. They also destroyed many
tanks, hovercraft, helicopters, and one Atlas that
they managed to topple into the valley below.
—From Combat Among the Giants, by
Hauptmann Michael Tredgon, Lancer Press,
2792
ANCIENT DYNASTIES
The Kelswa and Lestrade families once had close
ties with the Steiner family. It was, after all, a Steiner
who appointed the Kelswas and the Lestrades to their
current positions as leaders respectively, of the Tamar
Pact and Federation of Skye. Though history has frayed
the bond of friendship, it has never entirely broken.
The roots of the Kelswa family go back to Spain and
Portugal of the 20th century, where the family was noted for
the poets and scientists it had produced. During the Exodus,
the Kelswas moved to the Protectorate of Donegal. Soon,
one Ricardo Kelswa became the head of the fledgling
Commonwealth’s Emergency Services Department. After
the Archon took notice of his skills, a fine friendship
developed between the two families. Throughout the early
Steiner years, the Kelswas continued to win ever higher
positions with ever more responsibility.
The Lestrades are of more mysterious origins. No preExodus records exist for this family, though it is possible
that they are of Italian heritage. When they finally do appear
in record, it is in the Tamar Pact. The Lestrades seem to
have been involved in criminal activities, such as drugrunning and counterfeiting, almost as often as they were
involved in business and religion. For example, several of
the early Lestrades were cardinals in the Catholic Church,
while others spent most of their lives in jail. The Lestrade
family met the Steiners when the first Robert Steiner became
a close comrade of Sophie Lestrade while in the LCAF.
The current situation between the families is tense, yet
some members still occasionally meet informally and
amicably.
—From Origins of the Three Great Families, by Thelos
Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3011
On January 4, 2791, Jennifer Steiner was killed while
leading the Royal Guards in an attack against a fortified position
protecting the chemical factories of New Eslow on Styx. Using
Viola Steiner Dinesen’s own Warhammer, the Archon rushed
the doors of the stronghold. She either did not notice or did not
pay any attention to the numerous boxes and crates-all clearly
identified as carrying explosive charges-that were attached to
the door of the stronghold. When she tried to rip open the door,
they exploded. The blast disintegrated the upper body of her
Warhammer, leaving only its legs when the smoke cleared. The
fact that the explosion also destroyed the stronghold was no
comfort to the soldiers of the Commonwealth.
When news of the Archon’s death reached the other units in
the offensive, most stopped and sought to consolidate their gains
by trying to hold the worlds where they happened to be at the
moment. Perhaps they had lost their will to fight, for only the 13th
Lyran Guards and the 56th Heavy Assault regiments could hold
onto the world they were attacking: Dieudonne.
Jennifer Steiner’s son Richard, commander of the 11th Lyran
Guards, became the next Archon. He appointed Graham Kelswa,
Duke of Carse and commander of the Tamar Tigers, as
commander of the Steiner forces.
The years from 2791 to 2812 marked a lull in the action for
the Commonwealth. This was not because the LCAF decided it
was so, but because the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds
League were occupied elsewhere. Both still continued
to make frequent and often devastating raids against
Commonwealth worlds, however, especially against the
industrialized worlds in the Federation of Skye.
During this lull, the LCAF lost the Duke of Carse
and the Tamar Tigers when they fell into the Kurita trap
on the planet Benjamin. With the loss of this crack unit,
the Commonwealth was even more unwilling to risk any major
offensives. As House Steiner was further entrenching itself in a
defensive posture, its enemies enjoyed the luxury of picking
and choosing when and where to strike next.
In 2811, the Stealths faced and fought into submission a
superior number of Marik ‘Mechs, as described above. In
retaliation, a Marik assassin slipped into the Royal Court
unnoticed in 2812. His attempt to kill the Archon was
unsuccessful; his laser shot bounced off the hand of the ‘Mech
guard who saw the assassin just in time. How the assassin
made it past the Archon’s heavy security remained a mystery
until many years later. Also in 2812, Speaker of the Assembly
Timons Aths, Representative of Carse, officially disbanded the
Estates General until the end of the war because of a lack of
transportation to bring the Representatives to Tharkad.
After the planets of Caldrea and Dove were lost to
House Kurita’s fast-moving ‘Mech units, the Steiner high
command decided to remedy its inability to combat these
agile opponents. By disbanding the Stealths and
assigning its MechWarriors to teach in the various military
academies, the Lyran commanders hoped the young
cadets would finally learn how to fight on the run and to
defend themselves against a mobile opponent.
LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER
Give the High Command one victory and they think
they can rule the universe.
—From Enemy on Two Sides: Conflicts Between the
Soldiers and the Bureaucracy, by Colonel Raymond
Hempsted, Commonwealth Military Press, 2821
Extremely pleased with Colonel Hempsted’s handling of
the 12th and 14th Lyran Regulars on Bella I, the Steiner high
The planet Bella I became the focus of the diminishing
command decided to proceed with an ambitious plan. Choosing
strengths and resources of the
the brightest graduates from the
Commonwealth and the Free Worlds
military academies and supplying
League. In 2813, two regiments of the
them with the best equipment, they
UNIT INSIGNIAS
Regulan Hussars drove off the 12th
created the 54th Lyran Guards.
Wearing regimental and battalion patches is
and 14th Lyran Regulars by cleverly
Colonel Hempsted and other
considered optional in the LCAF. Though all units
giving the impression that their attack
members of the disbanded Stealths
have at least a regimental patch, only those with
force had two additional regiments. By
were to supervise their advanced
some sort of history wear regimental patches on their
the time the Commonwealth
training. The new would also be
uniforms at all times. All patches follow a basic
defenders realized the trick, it was too
instructed by a few aging veterans of
shape, but the symbols often distort the shape.
late, because actual Marik
the late, great Tamar Tigers. After a
The regimental patches of ‘Mech units of the
reinforcements had arrived to bolster
year’s worth of near torturous training
Lyran Guards are basically shield-shaped.
their control over the planet.
and military exercises, Colonel
Regimental patches for the Lyran Regulars are
Three years later, news of an
Hempsted was satisfied that the 54th
diamond-shaped. The Arcturan Guards have large
internal political squabble in the Free
was ready to see action, preferably in
oval patches. Patches for the Donegal Guards are
Worlds League reached the
concert with a veteran regiment.
rectangular. The Skye Rangers have circular
Commonwealth. Soon afterward
The high command had other
patches. Infantry units have square patches. Armored
came reports that the garrison of Bella
ideas. Once the training was finished,
units have a triangular patch.
I was being changed; the Regulan
they announced that the 54th, now
The number of the regiment is sometimes
Hussars were returning to their
known as ‘Hempsted’s Greyhounds’,
incorporated into the patch’s design. The regimental
homeworlds in protest over political
would be sent on a totally unassisted
nickname is generally also incorporated into the
issues.
raid of Otho in the Draconis Combine.
design.
In one of its few truly decisive
Colonel Hempsted and his aides
—From Military Traditions in the Lyran
moves of the entire war, the
vigorously objected to this shocking
Commonwealth, by Miclos Davion, NAIS Printers,
Commonwealth high command sent
bit of news, stating that there was no
3022
the 12th and 14th Lyran Regulars to
way to predict how a regiment of even
retake the planet. The two units were
the best-trained combat virgins, might
now under the command of Colonel
react to actual battle conditions. The
Raymond
Hempsted,
former
high command did compromise
commander of the Stealths. Colonel
slightly, by agreeing to allow some
Hempsted planned the attack perfectly;
members of the Stealths to
the new Marik garrison had been on
accompany the Greyhounds as aides.
Bella for only a week and was totally
They would not allow Colonel
unfamiliar with the planet at the time of
Hempsted to go, though he
the Steiner attack. The Marik units were
demanded the right. Instead, they sent
quickly outmaneuvered by the
him to Tharkad, saying he was due for
Commonwealth ‘Mechs, then
rest.
besieged. Three weeks later, Bella I
The debut of Hempsted’s
belonged to House Steiner once more.
Greyhounds quickly turned into its
But not for long. The next year,
swansong
as
the
young
forces of House Marik dropped onto
MechWarriors cracked beneath the
Bella I yet again, after learning that
pressure put on them by a veteran
Colonel Hempsted had left for Tharkad.
Kurita ‘Mech unit. The entire unit was
The Lyran Regulars, now commanded
destroyed.
by the young Marcus Steiner, had become seasoned veterans
Hearing of the disaster, Archon Richard Steiner reshuffled
who could no longer be tricked easily into giving up. For nine
the high command and court-martialed those most directly
months, the two sides maneuvered across the face of the planet,
responsible for sending the 54th to Otho. A very melancholy
each managing to do more damage to the inhabitants than to
Colonel Hempsted was then promoted to Hauptmann-General,
each other. What doomed the Steiner forces this time was their
with dual command of the Kurita front and over the training of all
insufficient air cover. Faced with an overwhelming number of Marik
recruits and cadets.
AeroSpace Fighters, the two Lyran ‘Mech regiments were finally
forced to withdraw.
BELLA I
This disaster also convinced the Archon that he must
actively court some mercenary units, especially those
who were veterans of the quick-strike style of combat.
“Better we risk mercenary lives doing what they know
than to continue to throw away the lives of our
inexperienced young”, the Archon said.
TERMS OF EXHAUSTION
Thank God, it’s over.
—Richard Steiner, on hearing of the signing of the Peace
Accord of Bella I, in Royal Court Transcripts: Year 2821,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 2822
All across the Inner Sphere, the loss of lives and industries
was finally beginning to exhaust every one of the Successor
States, both physically and mentally. It was becoming near
impossible to mount effective offensives. Early in 2820, discreet
peace initiatives began between the Lyran Commonwealth and
the Free Worlds League. Later that year, high officials from both
sides met amid the ruins of Bella I and began peace talks in
earnest.
On May 16, 2821, after seven months of wary discussion
and negotiation, the two sides had come up with a treaty
acceptable to both. In a ceremony unusual for its lack of pomp
and speeches, representatives of House Steiner and House
Marik signed the Peace Accord of Bella I, officially declaring an
end to the hostilities between them.
By the end of 2821, peace had spread to all five of the warweary Successor States, though it was never made completely
official. No peace treaty between the Lyran Commonwealth and
the Draconis Combine was ever signed. The Archon and his
people hated House Kurita too much to even consider signing
such a formal agreement. Animosity was just as typical of the
other Houses, making it all the more remarkable that the peace
would last even six days, let alone the six years it actually did.
The First Succession War had cost House Steiner dearly. It
had given up more than 30 worlds, including many important
planets such as Nox, Juniper, and Alula Australis. Twelve full
regiments from the LCAF, including the Tamar Tigers, the 54th
Lyran Guards, the 181st Heavy Assault, and the 89th Air Wing,
were no more. The remaining 110 regiments had suffered heavy
casualties, with only three regiments still able to field a meager
60 percent of their forces. The fighting navy was almost
completely gone. Only one battlecruiser, the LCS Invincible,
remained as the Commonwealth’s last major warship.
As for the state of Lyran industries, they were in even worse
shape. The ability to build faster-than-light ships, even the simplest
freighter, had been cut by 95 percent. Only the Pod Sydney
Naval Shipyards above Alarion and a few private firms like the
Clippership Yards were still capable of manufacturing
JumpShips.
The wars had nearly halved industrial output. Ten of the
most heavily industrialized worlds in the Federation of Skye had
been attacked and the factories of all but Hesperus II had been
severely damaged. Some worlds, like Kessel, would never
recover. The prospects for repairing and rebuilding some of the
damage in the Federation of Skye were good, but would require
at least five years of hard work.
The Tamar Pact faced much the same situation among its
industrialized worlds. Though the number of these worlds was
less, they were greater distances apart. That, plus delays in
finding needed parts, often hindered reconstruction efforts.
Most of the worlds lost to the enemy were from the
Tamar Pact, which made life miserable for the Pact’s
surviving worlds. People were daily reminded of their
lost industries, their lost ability to produce food, and the
loss of relatives and friends who had either died or now
lived under the heel of the cruel Kurita regime.
The Kelswa family, rulers of the Tamar Pact, had lost
much of its administrative records when House Kurita raided
Tamar in the last years of the war. The loss or damage of nearly
all records froze the economy for three years, pushing the
reconstruction effort back even further.
Only the Protectorate of Donegal had managed to emerge
from the war in moderately good shape. Its losses had generally
been confined to its border with the Free Worlds League. This
meant that its few industrialized worlds, like Coventry and Alarion,
had not been touched by the carnage. Nor was the province’s
food-producing ability much affected. However, the Protectorate
was now burdened with problems caused by the lack of reliable
commercial freighter service.
Regimental Nicknames
3rd Lyran Guards: The Eversworded Third’
This name was given to the unit after its
commanding officers took to wearing an ancient
broadsword to officer’s mess. The tradition began with
Colonel Rekenzie Weber, an antiquarian and avid
fencer. While serving as commander of the unit during
the First Succession War, he discovered such a sword
in the ruins of a museum on Alexandria.
6th Lyran Guards: ‘Saucy Sixth’
The unit earned this nickname after being
discovered smuggling men and women of questionable
moral character into their duty stations during the First
Succession War.
10th Lyran Guards: ‘Thundering Elephants’
Because the regiment consisted mainly of heavy
‘Mechs, their comrades compared the sight of them
running to the pachyderms of Terra and Nekkar.
11th Lyran Guards: ‘St. George’s Regiment’
This name commemorates the unit’s skill against
House Kurita during the Second Succession War,
referring to the legendary saint who slew the dragon.
14th Lyran Guards: ‘The Fearsome 14th’
The 14th got their nickname from the time the
entire unit was painted in black, red, and gray for
combat on the dark world of Baxter. The color scheme
is also painted like a regimental patch on the upper
arms of the unit’s ‘Mechs.
—From The Fists of House Steiner: A Layman’s
Look at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by
Miclos Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
THE SECOND SUCCESSION WAR
As time passes, it becomes difficult to believe that
there ever was a Star League, a time when months,
even years, might pass without people constantly hearing
news of some battle somewhere destroying lives and
civilization.
—From Lost Paradise, by Dimitri Auburn,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 2826
TRAGIC IRONIES
When the Archon conscripted commercial
transports into the military during the war, it had a
disastrous effect on planets like Bountiful Harvest and
A Place.
Bountiful Harvest, always a major food producer,
could no longer regularly export any of its products
during the war. As a result, the planetary economy
plunged, while huge silos stood filled with rotting grain.
Less than a jump away was A Place. A desolate
world with rich mineral resources, it never could feed
itself on what it raised from its meager topsoil. When
the war came and commercial JumpShips were
requisitioned, the planet’s population immediately
began to go hungry. Though the Commonwealth
government sent mercy missions, they came too
infrequently to stave off mass starvation. Of the million
inhabitants at the start of the war, only 100,000
remained at war’s end.
All that misery on A Place, while only a few lightyears away on Bountiful Harvest, grain lay rotting in
the sun and farmers were burying their butchered meat
animals in ditches because there was no one to buy
them.
—From War’s Tragedy, by Grafina Sandra
Kelswa, Stratton & Gebhart, 2829
RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS
In early 2822, Richard Steiner stood before the first
assembly of the Estates General that had been held in ten years.
His speech welcomed the delegates back to Tharkad, and also
outlined his plans for the reconstruction of the Lyran
Commonwealth. Though the Archon sincerely hoped for a lasting
peace, he knew that the realm must also be prepared to meet
the unexpected. That is why his proposal did not call for the
rebuilding of civilian industries until industries vital to the defense
of the realm had been reconstructed. As reestablishing good
communications between the industrialized worlds was also of
prime importance, the Archon had just signed a service-forgoods contract with ComStar.
To speed the reconstruction, Richard emphasized
cooperation. He called on the services of scientists, technicians,
and engineers from industries that had not suffered war damage,
as well as on the faculties of universities and colleges. Any
industrialist who refused to help, either because of inter-company
rivalry or the desire to keep trade secrets, would be considered
a traitor and his corporation would be confiscated.
In June 2823, Richard Steiner, 18th Archon of the Lyran
Commonwealth, died. His nephew Marcus Steiner took his place,
faithfully continuing Richard’s plans for the reconstruction. Marcus
also added one important phase to the effort. As a former
regimental commander on both the Marik and Kurita borders,
he was well aware of the tenuousness of the current peace.
Marcus Steiner therefore ordered that any corporations that could
possibly uproot themselves from the border worlds should do
so, particularly weapons industries. These companies would
move deeper into the interior of the Commonwealth, with all
expenses paid from the Archon’s private fortune.
Very few Lyrans ever learned that this gesture was an act of
atonement. After Richard’s death, the Steiner family discovered
that the Archon had embezzled huge amounts of money during
the fall of the Star League. Paying for the relocation of industries
was a way of returning that money to the Lyran people.
All these plans were excellent, but were aimed more at
rebuilding the Commonwealth’s ability to fight, than at improving
the life of the average citizen. The loss of four water purification
plants was perhaps the most devastating blow to the public and
to the continued growth of the Commonwealth. Because of the
lack of spare parts and the vagaries of commercial transport,
many settled planets began to suffer crises as their own
purification plants began to break down. There were several
tragic episodes of repair teams and parts arriving at some remote
colony, only to find that help had come too late.
The same problems plagued food distribution. Now that
regular travel between worlds had become so difficult, planets
had to become self-sufficient by growing their own crops. On the
many worlds where extreme climate made that impossible,
populations shrank, often vanishing completely.
Ghost towns, complete with mournful winds echoing
down melancholy streets, became commonplace among
the worlds of House Steiner.
In 2824, the Archon released the commercial
transports that had been pressed into military service
during the war. He also ordered that these freed transports
must make at least three mercy runs to carry food, water, and
needed spare parts to worlds that had been neglected during
the war. Fearing the permanent loss of their ships, all of the
transport companies agreed, except for Chahar Traders. Not
only did the Archon order that Chahar be slapped with huge
fines but their ships’ schedules were broadcast all over the
Commonwealth, making them vulnerable to any bandit or
business competitor who wanted to take advantage. Chahar
Traders immediately experienced a change of heart.
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK
Breathe deep. Smell that? That’s the heroic aroma of
testosterone. It rises from the stagnation peace brings. There’s
not enough blood being shed or enough impassioned shouting
for the average male’s taste. Soon every adolescent boy in the
Commonwealth will be having his little fantasies about war and
glory, completely ignoring the tragic evidence of war’s true
meaning that lies all around us. The trouble is that pimply teens
aren’t the only ones affected by the pungent aroma. Big kids
with big, ugly weapons get war lust, too. No, it won’t be long now,
won’t be long at all.
—Josica Felns, Chairperson, Lyran Women Against the
War Coalition, in The Lyran Women, Sisterhood Press, 2825
Small groups of Kurita ‘Mechs, some no larger than a lance,
dropped onto worlds all along the Commonwealth border in
2825. Their objective was to destroy as much of House Steiner’s
reconstruction effort as possible and also to create a good bit of
chaos in the process.
After one unsuccessful raid, some of the attackers
immediately surrendered. Interrogation revealed that these
raiders were actually convicted criminals from many of Lord
Kurita’s jails. Dubbed ‘chain gangs’ by the Lyran press, their
units were little more than suicide squads. Their Kurita jailers
had promised to reward them handsomely for participation in
the raids. The convicts were then sent off to fight with ancient,
barely functional ‘Mechs. These ‘Mechs were in such disrepair
that many of the fledgling pilots died simply because their ‘Mechs
didn’t have radiation shielding. After dropping these units, the
Kurita DropShips lingered just long enough to monitor the attack’s
effectiveness, then left, stranding the surviving Chain Gang on
the enemy planet.
Despite this, many of the prisoners fought on, stimulated by
battledrug pills. Some units actually accomplished their objectives
before its members were killed or captured. Lord Kurita must
have been well-pleased with the success of these raids, which
completely halted Steiner reconstruction efforts for four months,
as the Lyran military went on alert in anticipation of a follow-up
offensive by the Draconis Combine.
Once it became obvious that there would be no such followup, the LCAF unleashed its own raids against the Combine’s
Reconstruction efforts on worlds like Otho, Aix-la-Chapelle,
Baldur, and Darius. Though these objective strikes were not
totally successful, they showed that the Lyrans’ fighting ability
had vastly improved, thanks to General Hempsted’s new training
programs.
The Little Kingdoms
During the First Succession War, the Periphery
provinces suffered greatly because of their distant
location and the reduction in commercial freighter
service.
As war began to restrict the flow of essentials to
Periphery worlds, those few worlds fortunate enough to have
a surplus of goods became prey to their less fortunate
neighbors. When bandits from Sweet Water pillaged the
neighboring world of Canal in the early days of the first war,
the Archon was forced to take action.
Richard realized that if these worlds began to suffer
too greatly, it could give rise to rebellion. To prevent that and
to relieve the general suffering among the outworlds, he
created administrators for the resource-rich Periphery worlds
and granted them special powers over their ‘Little
Kingdoms’. The Chief Administrator took the temporary title
of Archonette, and ruled over his planetary government, its
planetary nobility, and all the surrounding worlds within a
one-jump radius.
The Archonette used his special powers to pool all the
available resources of a group of planets so that existing
food and water could be evenly distributed to all. During the
First and Second Succession Wars, there were about 20
Little Kingdoms. Because the Commonwealth was better
prepared during the Third Succession War, the number of
Little Kingdoms fell to just ten.
Archonettes were given huge money bonuses, land,
and a title on a world far from the Periphery if they
accomplished their jobs with honor. These rewards were
apparently enough to keep them from abusing their
considerable powers. Just to be sure, the Archon assigned
LIC agents to monitor the doings in each Little Kingdom.
Only Gregory Uther, Archonette of the Somerset Little
Kingdom, had visions of holding onto his power. He even
tried to assassinate the Duke of Somerset, when he returned
from the war to reassume control over the planet. An LIC
agent killed Gregory Uther first.
—From The Periphery During the Wars, by Thelos
Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3017
RESCUE OF THE CHAHAR PROFIT
In 2826, the Chahar Profit, a freighter laden with
corn for the starving citizens of Chandler, made a misjump.
Coming out of jump, the crew discovered that their ship
had entered the Kurita system of Darius instead of
Chandler. The system defense forces quickly disabled
the hapless Steiner ship before h could prepare for
another jump. With its drive disabled, the only thing the ship
could do was broadcast an SOS and deploy its little emergency
pigeon. A mini-jump drone, the pigeon lay dormant above the
captured ship until the next day, when it swiftly spread its sails,
collected energy, and jumped back into the Commonwealth
before the enemy knew what had happened.
Upon hearing the news, the Archon decided that the Chahar
Profit must be rescued, diplomacy be hanged. To carry out the
mission, Marcus Steiner reformed the Stealths. General
Hempsted, now 62 years old, decided that the only
MechWarriors qualified for the raid were those who had learned
their trade under his command in previous battles. This decision
reduced the size of the rescue force to just one company, whose
MechWarriors averaged an astounding 63 years of age. Many
in the Steiner high command had their doubts.
Regimental Nicknames (continued)
15th Lyran Guards: ‘The Death or Glory Boys’
This unit earned its name for the many times it
faced certain death, only to trick fate by surviving.
19th Lyran Guards: ‘The Scarlet Guards’
The Scarlet Guards took their name for the time
the unit temporarily replaced the 3rd Lyran Guards as
guards of the Triad during the Second Succession War.
All ‘Mechs of this unit have scarlet shoulder patches.
24th Lyran Guards: ‘The Slashers’
The Slashers got their name while stationed on
Suk during the second war. A local nobleman had been
harassing the unit and its families. One night, heavily
disguised soldiers broke into the nobleman’s mansion,
and cut off his ear in the ensuing scuffle. There was not
enough evidence for anyone in the unit to be officially
accused of the crime.
26th Lyran Guards: ‘Steiner’s Boots’
This nickname was given to unit by the Lyran public
for the unit’s history of suppressing rebellions and
insurrections within the realm.
—From The Fists of House Steiner: A Layman’s
Look at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by
Miclos Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
After weeks of vigorous retraining, the Stealths were
ready. Accompanying them on the mission was a unit of
AeroSpace Fighters, a company of crack infantrymen
trained in boarding actions, and a JumpShip crew to
replace that of the Chahar Profit if they could not be
rescued.
On February 21, the Stealths made the jump into
the Darius system aboard their vessel, the LCS Yo’ Mama.
Immediately, all but one of the Stealths’ DropShips detached
and sped toward the Chahar Profit, which was guarded by
fighters based on a Kurita Union Class DropShip. While the
Steiner DropShips engaged the Kurita defenders, the Yo’ Mama
carrying the Stealths made a screaming run at the planet.
Two days later, the Yo’ Mama launched the Stealths in a
near perfect drop trajectory. They hit the dirt just outside the
planet’s capital city, where the freighter’s crew was being held.
Good intelligence information and thorough preparation allowed
the company of light and medium ‘Mechs to make its way easily
into the city’s center.
The sight of ‘Mechs stalking among their streets brought the
whole population to a standstill. Though the defenders had had
two days to prepare, apparently they had not taken the Steiner
threat very seriously. All the Stealths encountered was the local
militia, who fired a few brave shots at the invaders, but whose
courage vanished when they got the metal monsters’ attention.
The Stealths reached the city’s prison and freed the crew of the
Chahar Profit.
The Stealths had planned to carry the Chahar crew back to
the DropShip in specially constructed ‘barrels’, armored capsules
that could hold two passengers and that a ‘Mech could carry in
its hand. Once the rescued crew members were strapped in and
ready, the Stealths attempted to leave the city. This proved more
difficult than entering, because the local ‘Mech battalion had
finally been roused into responding to the threat. Now the Stealths
had to avoid enemy fire, while trying to stay upright on the slippery
concrete as they ran through the city. The freighter’s crew,
strapped into their claustrophobic capsules, were about as
comfortable as bananas in a blender.
Leaving behind a few new monuments to war’s waste, the
Stealths finally managed to escape back to the rendezvous point.
Their comrades, meanwhile, had carried out a spirited and
successful boarding action to take the Chahar Profit back from
Lord Kurita.
This mission was a complete success. The Stealths
managed to free the entire Chahar crew unharmed, and to win
back a valuable freighter. They had also been able to keep the
freighter’s cargo of corn intact. The starving people of Chandler
were ecstatic when the Chahar Profit appeared in their system,
while news of the Stealth’s exploits spread throughout the
Commonwealth.
The next year, 2828, the Draconis Combine decided to get
even for their embarrassment on Darius by attacking the planet
Chandler and destroying its food and water supplies. Assuming
that there would be only token resistance from the local garrison,
the two invading Kurita regiments were surprised to find the
Stealths still on the planet and that the local militia would not
relinquish their food supplies without a bitter fight. Badly mauled,
the Kurita forces eventually withdrew.
Tensions all along both borders were gradually
increasing, while news from all over the Inner Sphere
told of “armed incidents”, “aggressive actions”, and
“delicate diplomatic negotiations”. Late in 2828, prisoner
exchange talks between the Lyran Commonwealth and
the Free Worlds League suddenly broke down, with both
sides claiming insult. This soon led to a total break in
relations between the two realms. Though rumors about what
caused the collapse were many, no one except the politicians
really cared. Whatever had caused the rift, war was sure to follow.
FAILED NEGOTIATIONS
Over the years, there has been considerable
speculation about what poisoned the prisoner exchange
talks. Much will never be known, because records of the
secret negotiations have been lost, but a few facts can be
pieced together.
The chief negotiators for the two sides were: Duke
Kendall Marik for the Free Worlds League, and Graf
Rebecca Steiner-Nelson for the Lyran Commonwealth. The
two apparently had met before, because many of their team
members overheard them chatting about mutual friends
and time spent at a place called the ‘Casa del Sol’ on some
unknown planet.
Many now believe that the chief negotiators had once
been emotionally involved. As the negotiations dragged
on, each had to take hard positions on behalf of their
respective governments, which could possibly have taken
a toll on their personal feelings for one another. If so, then
the decision to break off the negotiations may have been
due more to broken love than to political differences.
Though a plausible theory, it doesn’t answer certain
questions. Where had Kendall and Rebecca met before?
What about the phantom ‘Mech raid that occurred on the
planet where the negotiations were being held and for
which neither side would claim responsibility? What of the
assassination of the second negotiator for the
Commonwealth side, who tried to reconvene the talks after
the two leaders had left the planet? It is clear that much
more information must come to light before anyone will
understand this sad incident in Commonwealth history.
—From The Poisoned Talks: An Examination, by Dimitri
Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press, 2380
STATE OF WAR
Now I know how a boxer feels, after barely surviving
the first round, when he hears the bell for the round two.
—Gen. Liza Rido, in The Succession War, by Graf
Stel La Caucus, University Press, 3011
The Draconis Combine reopened its war against the Lyran
Commonwealth in 2830 with a major offensive to take the Steiner
worlds of Chandler and Moore. As the Stealths had made
Chandler their base for the past several years, the Kurita
attackers were facing an enemy with keen knowledge of the
planet. Kurita countered this by pouring more and more troops
onto the planet, which rendered the Stealths’ tactical edge
increasingly meaningless. After six months, the Stealths were
forced offworld.
Moore, on the other hand, with its methane swamps and
near fanatical militia units, proved too much for the Combine
invaders. After seven months of frustration amid the mud and
the blood, the Kurita attackers finally gave out and were driven
away.
In an effort to profit by House Steiner’s preoccupation on
the Kurita front, the Free Worlds League mounted its own
offensive that year. They attacked New Hope and Dieudonne. At
the end of eight months, both invasions proved successful
because of the ineptness of the ever-present ‘social generals’
among the Lyran military.
Disgusted by the lack of effective leadership on the Marik
front, Archon Marcus assumed control of the entire zone in 2831.
Under his leadership, the LCAF would mount its first effective
offensive of the second war. Among his first actions as the
commander of the front, Archon Marcus stripped worlds of the
interior of their garrisons and militias. He then molded these into
fighting units that could assume defensive responsibilities on
worlds along the Marik border, freeing the veteran units for
offensive action.
While he was training these new units, now known as the
five Citizen Regiments, Archon Marcus began weaving an
elaborate deception. He had the LCAF give the impression that
the Commonwealth was preparing to mount a major offensive
against House Kurita. They filled the communication networks
with bogus orders, fake transport schedules, and other such
disinformation pointing to a Steiner invasion against Kurita. The
LCAF broadcast these bits of false, but scrupulously official
information over channels that Marik was sure to be monitoring.
The ruse worked. It lulled the Marik forces into believing
that their borders with Steiner would remain quiet in the coming
months. Feeling smug and secure, Marik commanders now
directed their attention and energies toward the Capellan
Confederation.
With his scheme working beautifully, the Archon opened a
new Marik offensive with attempts to retake New Hope and
Dieudonne. In both actions, his men caught the Marik defenders
totally off-guard. Some of the captured troopers later related that
many had assumed that the fiery trails in the night sky were just
transports carrying their holiday mail.
Once these planets were secured and turned over to a
Citizen Regiment, the offensive continued with attacks against
the Marik worlds of Danais and Megrez. Though the defense on
these worlds was quite stiff, these invasions were also successful.
The Steiner standard now flew over four new worlds in a series
of unprecedented successes for the LCAF.
NEW TACTICS
It was certainly not the first time in military history
that garrisons and militia units fought in the front lines,
but it was the first time the Commonwealth had tried
it. Though Archon Marcus used it successfully, the
same tactic would later be unsuccessful for Archon
Alessandro Steiner, even leading to his fall from power.
—From Questions Raised by the Ouster of
Alessandro Steiner, by Thelos Auburn,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
The Draconis Combine was not entirely quiet during this
campaign. Their attacks between the years of 2831 and 2836
were mostly objective raids aimed at further destroying the
Commonwealth’s industrial base. Particularly vicious attacks that
employed more than one ‘Mech regiment each occurred on
Kessel and Kobe. During the raid on Kobe, the Kurita commander
taught his Commonwealth counterpart the value of light tanks
combined with mobile ‘Mechs. Together, the Kurita forces ran
rings around the Commonwealth defenders. House Kurita also
made an attack against the BattleMech factories on Hesperus II
during this period. The defenders easily threw the Kurita forces
off the planet, however.
TALES OF GRIMM
Good God, how can you trust anyone you respect?
—Archon Marcus Steiner, hearing of the 65th regiment’s
dis-appearance into the Periphery, in Marcus Steiner: A
Profile, by Ludvilla Michos, Commonwealth Historical Press,
2849
In 2837, House Marik was placed under an Exclusion Order
for insulting the neutrality of ComStar. This gave all the Successor
States pause and resulted in significant changes in how they
treated the keepers of the only effective interstellar
communications system in the Inner Sphere.
At this point, the Lyran Commonwealth was actually the
most respectful of the rights and neutrality of ComStar. It had
been only 14 years since the blessed Order had placed Tharkad
under Exclusion for the Estates General’s attempt to tax the land
where ComStar had its stations. Though the year-long interdict
may have inadvertently forced the Steiner leaders to pay more
attention to the work at hand, it nevertheless impressed upon
the Archon how much power ComStar actually has.
After assuring himself that ComStar’s representatives were
not about to violate the rules of neutrality, Archon Marcus decided
to take advantage of the House Marik’s plight by renewing his
offensive. Its first objectives were the worlds of Oliver and Graham
IV.
Just as the Commonwealth’s attacks were about to begin,
Kurita forces attacked Hesperus II yet again. In preparation for
the new offensive against Marik, that planet’s veteran ‘Mech
defenders had been transferred to the front and replaced with
inexperienced ‘Mech units. The Kurita ‘Mech regiments easily
pushed the green defenders up to the entrance of the BattleMech
factories. There, however, withering fire from troops in the fortified
buildings and the many concrete pill boxes on the slopes of the
mountains stopped their advance. Having regrouped and with
‘Mech reinforcements coming off the assembly lines every day,
the Steiner defenders broke the siege in the second week. Once
again battered on Hesperus, the Kurita units were forced
to retreat offworld.
With Hesperus II secure, the Commonwealth
launched its attacks against the Marik worlds of Graham
IV and Oliver in 2829. They encountered heavy
resistance on both worlds, particularly Graham. To take
these planets was going to require reinforcements, which
were due within the month. Before the reinforcements could
reach their destination, Marik launched its counteroffensive.
Instead of aiding their troops on Graham and Oliver, the units of
the Free Worlds League hit planets where they guessed the
Commonwealth had stockpiled its stores and was mustering its
reinforcements. This put the Steiner offensive in real danger, as
its units on Oliver and Graham now found themselves suddenly
on the defensive without hope of receiving needed support. In
the deepest trouble were the 65th Lyran Regulars, the ‘Old OneEyes’, fighting on Graham IV.
Commander of the 65th was Colonel Hendrik Grimm, the
bright and rising star of the LCAF. His early exploits at the head
of a battalion in the 3rd Lyran Guards had made him famous
quite young. When he established close bonds with the Steiner
family, many assumed that he would either marry into the family
or become commander of the whole Lyran military. In recent
years, however, he had become prone to violent mood swings
that got him into vicious fights. Only his connections with the
Steiners prevented his court-martial on three occasions. An
examining psychiatric exam found no signs of drug addiction.
What they did find was a psychiatric disorder requiring immediate
treatment. Inexplicably, the High Command gave Grimm
command of the 65th Lyran Regulars instead.
After a superior force of Marik militia attacked them, Colonel
Grimm and his men managed to hold their position, but soon
realized that they were doomed unless help arrived. Grimm made
the call for reinforcements, but his request was denied because
every Commonwealth unit in the area was involved in their own
troubles. It was turning out just as the Marik strategists had
planned.
Colonel Grimm’s paranoia now came into full bloom, with
him believing that the Archon himself had denied the request for
help because he wanted the Colonel dead. Against direct orders
from his superiors, Grimm ordered the 65th Lyran Regulars to
leave Graham IV. The men and women of the regiment packed
up and retreated offworld. The Colonel began complaining about
how everyone was out to assassinate him because he was the
true heir to the Star League throne. Many of the younger
MechWarriors were so confused that they continued to follow
the crazed Colonel, believing that they would be shot for treason
if they returned to the Commonwealth. The LCAF would not, of
course, have held soldiers responsible for following the orders
of their commanding officers. Meanwhile, Graham IV was lost to
the Free Worlds League.
After hearing about the fiasco on Graham IV, House Steiner
attempted to strip the insane commander of as many of his
regiments as possible. Members of the 65th were granted a
week to return home. As the unit continued to travel the noman’s-space between House Steiner and House Marik, the
Commonwealth declared them a renegade unit, having waited
long enough for the loyal to desert Colonel Grimm. The High
Command put a bounty on their heads, collectable by either
Steiner or Marik troops. Though ‘Mech units of both sides made
several attempts to capture the renegades, they discovered that
the Mad Colonel had still not lost his battlefield prowess. He and
his men disappeared into the trackless void of the Periphery
virtually intact.
CLAUDIUS THE CRUEL
I am neither humble nor courteous and so will not
couch my intent with flowery or eloquent phrases. Instead,
hear me plain: I will kill anyone who challenges my claim
to the Archonship, and I will torture anyone who supports
any of my rivals for the throne.
I hope I’ve made myself understood.
—Claudius Steiner, message to the Estates General, in
The Horrors of Claudius Steiner’s Reign, by Justin Blount,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 2851
In 2840, House Kurita began a new offensive against the
Lyrans. Their strategy would become known as planet-hopping,
because the attackers concentrated their forces against a few
Steiner planets at a time, slowly but steadily gobbling up worlds.
They started with New Caledonia and Harvest, the two most
rimward planets in the Commonwealth. Both attacks seemed to
be typical Kurita objective raids when they began, then
mushroomed into full invasions as reinforcements appeared.
Just as the LCAF was going to react to the new offensive,
House Kurita sent raiders against Thorin. In response, the
commanding officer of the planetary defenders devised a plan
based heavily on air strikes. Though a hurricane appeared the
day of the attack, the commanding officer ordered his AeroSpace
Fighters into the winds anyway. The two sides met amid driving
rain. The weather reduced the mobility of the Kurita ‘Mechs,
which turned the fight into a knock-down-drag-out brawl that
gave the advantage to House Steiner’s huge heavy ‘Mechs.
Despite this loss, the Combine received an unexpected
boost to their plans when Marcus Steiner contracted meningitis
in 2843 while on the planet Loric. The doctors treating the Archon
discovered that he had contracted a particularly virulent strain
of the disease. They removed him from the front so that he could
be treated at the Martin Luther Memorial Hospital near the Royal
Palace. Not long after his return to Tharkad, the Archon slipped
into a coma.
Marcus had no children, nor had he appointed a successor.
The news of his coma therefore set off an immediate power
struggle within the Commonwealth. Melissa Nin, the Archon’s
wife, believed that she should become the Archon-Designate.
Claudius Steiner, Marcus’ younger brother and commander of a
Guards unit, immediately dispatched a communiqué to Tharkad.
He announced that there could be no doubt that the throne
should pass to him.
It was left to the Estates General, which happened to be in
session that year, to decide. No one knows what possessed
them to vote in favor of Melissa Nin, a woman with no political
experience. Everyone knows the disastrous effects of that
decision. Melissa Nin was confirmed as Archon-Designate in
December 2844. When Marcus died a few months later, she
took the throne immediately.
The reign of Melissa Nin was to the shortest of any Archon
in Commonwealth history. In September 2845, just five months
after she took the throne, units loyal to Claudius Steiner dropped
onto Tharkad City, and engaged elements of the 3rd Lyran
Guards. After gaining control, Claudius publicly executed Melissa
Nin for treason. He then gave the same treatment to the Speaker
of the Assembly because the Estates General had supported
her. Finally, he disbanded the Estates General indefinitely while
he sought to consolidate his control.
Archon Claudius’s preoccupation with internal matters
worked in favor of the Combine’s military plans. When units
loyal to Claudius were withdrawn from the front to fight for him
on Tharkad, it created mass confusion and a major
reshuffling of House Steiner’s defensive on the Kurita
border. In 2845, while the new Archon was terrorizing
Tharkad with ever more horrific displays of his will, Lord
Kurita ordered the final stages of his invasion of
Caledonia.
REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES (CONTINUED)
30th Lyran Guards: Walking Hellfire’
This unit includes elements of the now defunct
2nd Lyran Guards, which defeated Kurita forces on
Port Moseby by setting a huge fire in its tinder-dry
forests. ‘Mechs in this unit have a flame design on their
upper shoulder.
32nd Lyran Guards: ‘Red Arrows’
The Red Arrows carry an ancient regimental
nickname first given to an American regiment. On
tactical maps, red arrows indicate enemy forces. The
nickname commemorates the fact that no enemy has
ever totally stopped the unit.
36th Lyran Guards: ‘Air Surfers’
The unit earned this name when Colonel Jessica
Templar was the first Commonwealth MechWarrior to
triple-skip her ‘Mech off a planet’s atmosphere and
survive.
—From The Fists of House Steiner: A Layman’s
Look at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by
Miclos Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
DEATH OF THE FOURTH
THE MARTIN LUTHER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
The Martin Luther Memorial Hospital is one of the
most technologically advanced medical facilities in the
Inner Sphere. Undamaged by war, it still has Star
League era capabilities.
Unfortunately, knowledge of how to use much of the
elaborate medical machinery has long been lost. Many of
its rooms still harbor sophisticated but now-strange
apparatus that does nothing but sit and gather dust. Where
the ability to use the machinery still exists, it has been
preserved with mysterious rituals similar to ComStar’s
method of passing on its communications technology.
As a result, Martin Luther has become even more
departmentalized than is usual for a hospital. Rivalry
between divisions such as Radiology, Chemotherapy,
Subatomic Medicine, and Pharmacology has become
intense. In Tharkad City, a patient’s family doctor becomes
something of an auctioneer, calling for the various
departments to bid for the right to treat his patient. If that
were not enough, the Martin Luther Memorial Hospital’s
reputation became even more infamous after Claudius
Steiner came to power.
—From The Martin Luther Memorial Hospital: A Minor
of Our World, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 3012
To many, the reign of Claudius seemed like the
beginning of another dark age similar to the reign of
Margaret Olsen during the first dark age of the
Commonwealth. Indeed, the loss of the Fourth Royal
Guards and the tragic death of its commanding officer
seemed like harbingers of doom.
—From Remembrance of Things Long Past, by Gen. Yevos
McCreger, Donnelly Printers, 2850
The Kurita invasion of Caledonia in 2841 did not take the
LCAF totally by surprise. In fact, the entire 4th Royal Guards
regiment, nicknamed ‘Pride of the Commonwealth’, had been
stationed on the planet in anticipation. The enemy invasion,
which used two ‘Mech regiments supported by armor and infantry,
was successful enough to establish a planethead on Caledonia.
Despite this, Colonel Tiber Hinders, commander of the 4th, had
every reason to believe that, with a little luck, he could push the
enemy offworld.
That luck never arrived. As the months, then years passed,
every one of the 4th’s attacks was thwarted, every defensive
preparation was breached. When Kurita managed to discover
and knock out Caledonia’s hidden aerodromes, it became quite
clear that there was a traitor in the 4th’s command structure.
Though Colonel Hinders and his younger brother Michael made
every attempt to find the spy, they did not succeed. Despite the
traitor, the 4th Royal Guards managed to hold on to Caledonia
for seven years before their final defeat in July 2848. Archon
Claudius must also share the blame because he ignored pleas
to aid the 4th, being so absorbed in his blood sports.
The victor of the Caledonia campaign was Hugai Kurita. In
celebration, he decided to arrange a little entertainment. When
Hugai asked the captive Colonel Hinders whether he would like
a chance to kill the spy that had helped to destroy his regiment,
the Colonel leapt at the chance.
Claudius was fascinated with medical instruments; not
for their healing ability, but for their potential to cause pain. He
turned a whole wing of the Martin Luther Memorial Hospital
into a series of torture chambers. In those chambers, Claudius
and his minions discovered new and terrifying uses for many
of those strange machines whose medical use had been lost
to the destruction of war.
To say that Claudius Steiner was the most evil, most cruel
of all the leaders of the Lyran Commonwealth would be like
saying that winter in Tharkad is cold. Though some blame
Claudius’s lust for torture on the Steiners’ genetic tendency
toward Dobrowski Depression-A Syndrome, historical
pathologists believe that he actually lacked this genetic trait.
It no longer matters what created his sadism, for nothing
can change what he did. To those who were forced to live in
and near the Royal Palace or who suffered at his hands,
Claudius Steiner was not just an evil man—he was evil
incarnate.
—From Encyclopedia Res Publica, Thelos Auburn, ed.,
Commonwealth Historical Press
The next day, Colonel Hinders was taken to a bowlshaped valley and given a battered Thunderbolt, whose
weaponry had been removed. Across the valley was
another Thunderbolt, which the Colonel believed was
piloted by the Kurita spy. Watching from the ridges
surrounding the valley were Hugai Kurita and his men.
The battle lasted for hours as the two ‘Mechs slugged
each other into stumbling hulks. Realizing that the shielding in
his ‘Mech’s reactor had been damaged and that he had
sustained a lethal dose of radiation, Colonel Hinders launched
himself into one last furious attack.
Fifteen minutes later, he stood above the vanquished spy
‘Mech. Ripping open its cockpit, Colonel Hinders stared in
disbelief at his brother Michael’s body. A very entertained Hugai
Kurita then ‘humanely’ dispatched Colonel Hinders with a laser
bolt to the cockpit. To this day, no one knows whether Michael
Hinders was actually the spy, or whether Hugai had simply played
a cruel trick on his former enemy. Tapes of this horror were sent
to Archon Claudius Steiner, courtesy of Hugai Kurita.
After Claudius watched the demise of the 4th, he sent coded
messages deep into the Draconis Combine, setting into motion
what declassified government records call Operation Praying
Mantis. It would be two years before the events he set in motion
became visible for all to see.
OPERATION PRAYING MANTIS
Who can say what passes through an assassins
mind as he or she readies to commit the deed. I only
hope that Snow Fire had a few sweet memories to
comfort her in the last moments of her own life.
—From My Time at the Helm, by Elizabeth Steiner,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 2890
Claudius Steiner’s secret message made its way to an
operative of the Lyran Intelligence Corps, who has since become
known as a great heroine in the annals of Commonwealth history.
Not much is actually known about her, except that she was 25
years old at the time of her death. The rest remains a closely
guarded state secret. Known to the public only by her Kurita
Courtesan School name of ‘Snow Fire’, she has nevertheless
inspired countless paintings, dramas, and ballads celebrating
and speculating on who she was, why she joined the LIC, and
what inspired her to give her own life to accomplish her final
mission.
ComStar representatives have access to many information
sources, however, which provide a more complete picture of
Operation Praying Mantis. Though we have not learned her real
name, we do know that Snow Fire had been trained by the
Bondians, one of the espionage branches of the Lyran
Intelligence Corps.
Among the orders received by Snow Fire in 2848, she also
learned of the 4th Royal Guards’ demise. Till that time, she had
been serving as an assistant Geisha, one of the household
courtesans in the intricate hierarchy of the Kurita palace. Snow
Fire, apparently a woman of considerable skill, guile, and steely
courage, did not hesitate after receiving her final orders. During
the next year and a half, she steadily advanced her standing in
the Kurita palace until eventually she caught the eye and won
the trust of Lord Yoguchi Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis
Combine.
One stormy night, Snow Fire quietly and efficiently completed
her mission by deftly slitting the ruler’s throat while he slept.
Knowing she would never escape, Snow Fire then swallowed a
poison tablet that she had hidden in the hollow of a false tooth.
Before dying, she took a small embroidered patch from a
hidden pocket in her robes. The other geishas and concubines
had formerly watched her lovingly embroider this patch, which
she had then carried wherever she went. Not being Warriors,
the courtesans never realized the significance of that bit of cloth,
beyond its sentimental value to Snow Fire. In her last moments,
the brave young woman laid the patch on the bloodstained
body of Lord Kurita.
It must have pleased her to think of the cold shock to the
Kurita palace guards and officials when they discovered their
Lord wearing the regimental patch of the House Steiner 4th
Royal Guards on his dead body.
THE TRIUMVIRATE
Odd as it seems, the murder of Lord Yoguchi Kurita
at the hands of a Steiner assassin in 2850 lifted the spirits
of the Lyran people. Though Claudius had been dead for
a year, first the war and then his reign of terror and its
reverberations had convinced the Lyrans that it was all a
kind of mass punishment. News of the assassination seemed to
prove to the people that it was possible to strike back at evil.
—From Encyclopedia Res Publica, Thelos Auburn, ed,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3025
Claudius Steiner died in 2849, without the satisfaction of
seeing Operation Praying Mantis successfully completed.
Though the medical examiners claimed his heart had given out,
many rumors in Tharkad City said that members of the Steiner’s
own family had forced Claudius to drink poison. No matter what
the cause, his death immediately created another political crisis,
with fearful parallels to the time of the fall of Star League.
Successor to the throne was nine-year-old Elizabeth
Steiner, who would have to wait till she reached legal age before
she could officially rule the Commonwealth. Duchess Rebecca
Morgan, Claudius’s wife and Elizabeth’s mother, refused to rule
until her daughter’s maturity, because she believed that power
had created her husband’s madness. Rebecca Morgan therefore
decided to reconvene the Estates General to ask for their counsel
on what should be done.
ARTS EXPLOSION
The time of the Triumvirate may have been politically
tenuous, but it was a time of rediscovery and optimism for
culture and the arts. Freed from Claudius’s reign of terror,
the Lyran people felt a mass relief that seemed to set off an
explosion of painting, music, dance, and drama. Though
hampered by the continued drain of the war, Lyran artists,
with their gift for making do with what is at hand, created
beauty from the most unlikely of subjects.
Some of the more notable works from this period are
Tales of the Heike, a holoseries written by Misako Endo;
Newly Built Roads, a travel diary in poetry by John Salters;
and Freedom, a sculpture in bronze by Minerva Ray.
—From A History of Arts in the Lyran Commonwealth,
by Unchilla Grevra, Prefect of Kaifeng, Kaifeng Royal
Printers, 3025
Having spent the last four years out of work, the
Representatives of the Estates General did not want to risk
displeasing the Archon. In answer to her request for help, the
delegates politely suggested a Triumvirate consisting of three
separate and equal leaders. The Estates General further
suggested that their new Speaker of the Assembly, Henry
DeCalidore, the young Representative from Furillo, be a member
of the Triumvirate. The Representatives also suggested that Ilysa
Aten, the Duchess of Tamar and Skye, be another of the three,
because of her influence over those important regions of the
Commonwealth. The Estates General then went on to suggest
that, despite her protests, Rebecca Morgan herself should be
the final member of the Triumvirate. The Representatives said
that it was important that the other two have a calm third
to decide disagreements and that the young Elizabeth
Steiner needed at least one member of the trio to speak
for her interests.
Rebecca Morgan reluctantly agreed to the
arrangement. On October 13, 2849, the new Triumvirate
met in the Throne Room, seated at an onyx and slatesapphire table placed on the floor before the dais and empty
throne.
Though destructive intrigues plagued the Triumvirate toward
the end of its ten years in power, this interim government served
the future Archon and the Commonwealth rather well.
“WHAT, ME WORRY?”
God, imagine how it must have been for those youngsters
out there, knowing that the first time they went into battle would
likely be their last. It’s tough enough for us veterans, but for
them-my god. They didn’t grow up expecting to the on the
battlefield like we did. I’d say they’re the ones with real courage.
—Interview with MechWarrior following 8th battle for
Hesperus II, on News From the Frontlines, Donegal
Broadcasting Co., December 4, 2853
Though history often attributes House Kurita’s siege of
Hesperus II in 2853 as retaliation for the assassination of Yoguchi
Kurita, it is unlikely. Considering the thoroughness that went into
their attack plans, the Kurita commanders must have been
plotting the siege long before Snow Fire slit the throat of their
leader. There is no doubt, though, that the memory of their Lord
dying at the hands of a lowly Steiner woman added to the ferocity
of their fighting.
The siege of Hesperus II was House Kurita’s attempt to
bring the Commonwealth to its knees by destroying the largest
BattleMech factories in the entire Inner Sphere. If that could be
accomplished, the Combine military leaders were confident that
House Steiner would sue for peace, leaving them free to
concentrate against Davion.
The siege would be divided into two parts. The first, and
most important, was to create a blockade of Hesperus by
encircling the planet and its main jump points with heavily armed
DropShips, AeroSpace Fighters, and the few remaining warships
in the Combine navy.
The second part of the siege was the actual destruction of
the Defiance ‘Mech factories. House Kurita’s greater number of
‘Mech regiments would slowly and steadily destroy the planet’s
defenders until there were none left to protect the factories.
Meanwhile, the blockade would prevent reinforcements and
supplies from coming to the Lyrans’ aid.
The plan worked flawlessly. After overwhelming the system
defenses at both main jump points, the Kurita warships formed
rings about the jump stations to destroy anything the LCAF tried
to send through K-F space. The Kurita forces then spent the next
five months waiting for the planetary defenders to use up their
food and supplies. Only then did they land on the more lightly
defending portion of the planet. Assuming they now had plenty
of time, the Kurita commanders proceeded to engage the three
defending ‘Mech regiments in taxing battles, not to win territory
outright, but to further wear down the defenders.
Baron Ivor Brewer, the chief executive of Defiance
Industries, realized that this time the enemy actually stood
a good chance of destroying his factories. During those
long troubled days and nights, he came up with a
desperate plan. Calling on volunteers from among his
workers, the Baron had his own ‘Mech test pilots teach
these green recruits the rudiments of piloting and fighting
in a ‘Mech. This makeshift ‘Mech battalion then climbed into
machines sitting already assembled in the warehouses of the
Hesperus factories and took over guarding the passes leading
to the facilities. This freed the veteran ‘Mech units to join their
comrades elsewhere on the planet to combat the enemy.
The ersatz battalion of grey-haired senior citizens and
pimply teens called itself ‘The Force of Last Resort’. For their
battalion patch, they adopted the grinning face of Alfred E.
Newman, a famed character from 20th-century Terra. His motto,
“What, Me Worry?”, became the battalion’s own.
The rest of the Commonwealth was not idle during these
dire times. The first few attempts to breach the blockade failed,
leaving halos of frozen atmosphere and debris where once there
were Commonwealth ships. The LCAF decided to revive the
LCS Invincible as part of a daring plan devised by Henry
DeCalidore, member of the Triumvirate and an ex-AeroSpace
pilot.
To most, the battlecruiser LCS Invincible, stationed near
zenith jump point of Tharkad, was merely a relic from the Star
League. When the crew of grey-haired veterans of House
Steiner’s defunct fighting navy boarded her, it was like retuning
home. Her massive lasers and particle cannons might groan
and protest, but they were still capable of unleashing searing
death. Though the Invincible’s engines threatened detonation at
any moment, they moved the grey behemoth to the jump point,
where she spread her sails the way a grand duchess might
arrange her cloak. Behind her was the rest of the Commonwealth
relief force.
Back on Hesperus, the Kurita officers felt victory was theirs
when they actually caught site of the BattleMech faces for the
first time. The defenders, tired and weak, had been outwitted
and drawn out of position. Nothing could protect factories now.
Then the factory doors slid back, spewing BattleMechs from
the darkness of the factory’s caves. Shiny, lacking even a usual
undercoat of paint, the ‘Mechs moved to positions about the
facilities and in the mountains. Cursing in surprise, Kurita officers
moved to attack the unexpected defenders. As the two sides
met, the fledgling MechWarriors, in a rush of adrenaline and
beginners luck, made their first kills.
At about the same time, LCS Invincible materialized from KF space at the Hesperus jump point like an angered whale
among minnows. The blockade bent, then broke, while the Kurita
ships fled in sheer terror from its barrage of missile salvos, laser
fire, and sub-atomic beams. DropShips from the Invincible were
soon speeding their way to Hesperus II.
Stung with humiliation, the Kurita officers sought revenge
for the way that unexpected force of bright, shiny ‘Mechs had
succeeded in pushing the Kurita forces back. While they were
attempting to regroup, the remnants of a Skye Rangers regiment
attacked from the sides. Pushed back still further, the Kurita forces
finally reorganized. They took time to savor the pleasure of
disposing of the few remaining Skye Rangers, then turned their
sights on the shiny new ‘Mechs.
Without the element of surprise or luck, the Force of
Last Resort withered as the Kurita ‘Mechs opened fire,
and many of them died. Those that survived turned
suddenly and ran back toward the factory caves. Most of
the Kurita MechWarriors thought that those ‘Mechs ran
in fear. Feeling that victory was at hand, the attackers
slowly advanced on their prey.
Suddenly, a great light glared from the east and the sounds
of explosions came at them from behind. Meanwhile, the ground
shook as though pounded by a giant’s hand. The Kurita forces
scattered to evade bombardment by the LCS Invincible, but
most were gobbled up by the advancing storm of light and
explosions. A few had sense enough to run into the factory
complex, realizing that the Invincible was not about to destroy
its own factories. There they met the surviving members of the
Force of Last Resort, who were suddenly reinvigorated by the
sight of Kurita ‘Mechs exploding like so many kernels of corn.
Regimental Nicknames (continued)
1st Royal Guards: ‘The Pride of Donegal’; also ‘The
Archon’s Own’
2nd Royal Guards: ‘The Pride of Skye’
3rd Royal Guards: ‘The Pride of Tamar’
4th Skye Rangers: ‘Albion’
An ancient and poetical name for Great Britain, Albion
was also the name of the first freighter JumpShip owned by
Ian McQuiston, the founder of the Federation of Skye.
10th Skye Rangers: ‘Black Watch’
This name originated with six companies of Scottish
clansmen loyal to the English King in 1725. The name
carried over into the Commonwealth because of the major
influx of Scots people into the Federation of Skye. The upper
arms of ‘Mechs in this unit are painted in the dark tartan
colors of the original Black Watch.
17th Skye Rangers: ‘Boys of Summer’
This nickname came from the fact that at least half of
all MechWarriors in the unit must be from the planet
Summer, per the Household Troop Agreement of 2883.
22nd Skye Rangers: ‘The Virgins’ or ‘Katrina’s Bonnie
Bairns’
These names refer to the fact that the unit has not yet
seen major action. Its MechWarriors are anxious to lose
their green status.
—From The Fists of House Steiner. A Layman’s Look
at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by Miclos
Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
In what came to be known as the sixth, seventh, and
eighth battles for Hesperus II, House Kurita lost over 50
percent of its ground units, fighters, and DropShips
participating in the invasion. All of their ancient warships
that had aided in the blockade were destroyed, as were
many freighters and stockpiles of supplies. House Kurita
had managed to destroy one of the BattleMech assembly
lines, but that was nowhere near its original goal of completely
crippling the Commonwealth. Worse yet, the skill and expertise
of the Defiance Industries technicians and workers managed to
bring the damaged assembly line back to working order a year
later.
The victory was costly for the Commonwealth, too. Of the
three defending regiments, the 10th Skye Rangers and the 9th
Arcturan Guards had lost so many MechWarriors that the units
were permanently disbanded. Of the 40 volunteers in The Force
of Last Resort, 35 had died in the fighting. Still seen on the
blasted hulks of the battalion’s ‘Mechs was their motto, “What,
Me Worry?”, an ironic testament to their bravery. Even the LCS
Invincible was lost, along with its crew of 200, when its drive
failed mid-jump on the way back to Tharkad.
The names of all these were added to the Commonwealth
hero’s list of Honored Missing. Ships like the Angela Franks,
Alistair Marsden, Snow Fire, and units such as the Tamar Tigers,
the 54th Lyran Guards, Beck’s Battalion, and the 4th Royal
Guards were also added to the memoriam. The Archon reads
the list of Honored Missing each Veteran’s Day and on the
anniversary of the Lyran Commonwealth’s founding.
ELIZABETH STEINER
Elizabeth Steiner. Now there’s a woman with authority in
her voice and steel in her eyes. Few dare to cross her. Those that
do quickly learn who controls whom.
—From My Days Ruling the Commonwealth, by Duchess
Ilysa Aten, Leadership Press, 2861
An increasing strain in the relations between the three
members of the Triumvirate marred its final four years. What had
begun as a team concerned only with the well-being of the
Commonwealth had degenerated into the squabblings of three
individuals, each looking out for his own interests. Henry
DeCalidore, his ego boosted by his part in the battles for
Hesperus, fancied himself a new Napoleon and began meddling
with the workings of the high command. The generals of that
elite group saw the commoner DeCalidore as a dangerous fool.
Ilysa Aten, with her interests in the Tamar and Skye regions,
represented a much more subtle threat to the Commonwealth.
The official rulers of these regions were the Kelswa and Lestrade
families, but they were both pro-Steiner, an unpopular position
during this period. Ilysa Aten was the emotional leader to each
realm’s people, making her perhaps the most influential nonSteiner political leader in the Commonwealth’s history. To her
credit, Ilysa Aten did not seek to dominate the realm as a member
of the Triumvirate. What she did attempt, through proposing
legislation to the Triumvirate, was to return control of the nobility’s
house military units to them, to overhaul the tax system to keep
more money within the two pacts, and to allow the nobility a
greater voice and even a vote on certain issues. All these
proposals did, of course, threaten to dilute the Steiners’ control
over the Commonwealth.
Despite the often conflicting interests of these two leaders,
the Triumvirate managed to rule effectively enough during its
ten years, due largely to Rebecca Morgan. She proved to be the
unfailing champion of the Steiners and the
Commonwealth government. Though not above a few
schemes of her own, Duchess Morgan tended to steer
the middle path between her fellow-rulers.
Archon-Designate Elizabeth Steiner supplemented
her extensive formal education with frequent visits to the
Throne Room to watch the Triumvirate at work, which
soon developed in her a keen political sense. In 2859, the young
woman assumed the throne upon her 20th birthday. Anxious to
enact her own plans for government, Elizabeth’s first official act
was to dissolve the Triumvirate.
To thank its three members, she gave each one a gift. To
Henry DeCalidore, Archon Elizabeth gave command of the newly
formed 23rd Lyran Regulars, along with orders to head to the
Kurita front. She hoped this would keep him too busy to meddle
in the affairs of the high command or the Estates General. To
Ilysa Aten, the new Archon gave control over the Commonwealth
relief effort, a truly monumental task that was to preoccupy Ilysa
for the rest of her life. To her mother, Archon Elizabeth gave
command of the Environmental Services, an organization
dedicated to preserving endangered species of plants and
animals, which was one of her mother’s special interests.
Elizabeth Steiner then set about removing the last vestiges
of her father’s evil domination and the political infighting created
by the Triumvirate. Meanwhile, the LCAF found itself faced with
new worries. The war was winding down, and once again, the
militaries of the Successor States were finding it impossible to
field rested regiments. In these times of exhausted soldiers, the
leaders changed their strategy from planetary conquest back to
objective raiding, as well as hiring mercenary units to do more
of the dirty work. Though this shift in strategy gave some rest to
the soldiers, it worked against the Lyran Commonwealth.
In 2853, forces from the Free Worlds League, strengthened
by units from the Eridani Light Horse, succeeded in capturing
Circinus. This battle marked the first time the standard of the
prancing black horse of the Light Horse was carried in battle
against the Lyran Commonwealth. This mercenary unit went on
to serve nobly the Free Worlds League on both their fronts in the
second war, as well as in part of the third. Against House Steiner,
the Light Horse spearheaded a major raid of Dieudonne in
2860, inflicting heavy casualties and damaging the few industries
on the planet. Then, in 2862, the Light Horse, aided by a Marik
heavy regiment, successfully invaded Ilion. This last action was
the key victory in a year that also saw the Free Worlds League
retake Megrez.
Steiner forces did not fare well in encounters with the
Eridani’s highly mobile ‘Mech units. Despite this, Commonwealth
units could not help but respect the Eridani Light Horse for their
honorable approach to combat, a sight seldom seen since the
days of the Star League.
The Commonwealth could never respect the Draconis
Combine, however. In February 2860, Combine forces attempted
to raid Sakhalin with a large number of Phoenix Hawk LAMshybrid ‘Mechs that convert into AeroSpace Fighters. Though
Kurita suffered heavy losses, they did manage to kill the
commander of the Commonwealth defenders, Colonel Henry
DeCalidore. The Archon and the high command shed many
crocodile tears over his death, secretly pleased to have him out
of their hair. A month after this raid, the Combine managed to
capture the Lyran world of Kreller, another victim of House Kurita’s
vision of slowly pushing back the Steiner realm.
The failed attack with LAMs was not to be the last of Kurita’s
attacks against Sakhalin. Late in 2860, ten regiments, including
three of ‘Mechs, invaded the planet. This surprised
LEGEND OF THE BLACK PEARL
Angela Franks was a beautiful woman, a holo star,
and a Commonwealth patriot. She was also a member
of the LCAF, a battalion leader in the Stealths, and the
apparent heir to command of that elite unit when
Colonel Winfield retired.
Born into a wealthy merchant family from Donegal, Angela
Franks had been popular in her earlier career as an actress.
Her beautiful features, a blessing from her American Black
and Nigerian heritage, were a common sight on the holos
and on the thousands of magazines in the Commonwealth.
Her career in holos soon made her a star. Her fans were the
first to start calling her the ‘Black Pearl’.
Though Angela participated in many war bond rallies to
help raise money and supplies for the war efforts, she soon
felt that was not enough. In 2853, the actress applied to enter
the Sanglamore Military Academy. Her fans at first assumed it
was some kind of public relations play to drum up more
support for the war effort. When Angela chose and excelled in
‘Mech training, everyone finally realized this was serious
business and not play-acting.
After graduation, she found her way into the
Stealths as a MechWarrior in a scout lance. Throughout
her military career, Angela Franks never once used
her fame to avoid any duty or assignment. She was
just another MechWarrior among her friends in the
Stealths and woe to any who treated her otherwise.
Her skills and battlefield savvy soon advanced her in the
Stealths’ organization. It was after she succeeded in disabling
a Kurita BattleMaster enough to claim it for her own that she
won command of the Stealths’ heavy ‘Mech battalion.
In the battle of Sakhalin, Angela Franks’ fame became a
legend. Her battalion, which was composed of slower medium
and heavy ‘Mechs, was following the Stealths’ two lighter
battalions when they ran into the Kurita assault battalion. After
a bad mauling, the two Stealth battalions were unable to
disengage from the enemy.
Having finally caught up with the lighter battalions.
Leutnant-Colonel Angela Franks took one quick look at the
situation, then ordered her unit to charge the enemy. By placing
her BattleMaster in the middle of a clearing, she allowed
herself to become the focus of the enemy’s fire. Firing back,
she continued to stand her ground while the wounded ‘Mechs
of the Stealths made their retreat. The rest of Angela’s battalion
were also providing suppression fire.
After taking a barrage of missile fire that momentarily
obscured Angela’s ‘Mech, her weapons went silent. When the
smoke cleared, her BattleMaster was still upright, but its front
armor was pockmarked with hits, its circuitry exposed and
sparking. As the Kurita forces moved to pursue the rest of the
Stealths, the BattleMaster opened fire again, catching a
Marauder with a disabling hit to its legs. The Kurita assault
battalion now unleashed its entire firepower against Angela
Franks’ BattleMaster.
As the smoke cleared one more time, the BattleMaster’s
head was gone, which left no hope that Angela Franks was
still alive. The sight of her ruined ‘Mech seemed to fascinate
the commander of the Kurita battalion, who moved his
Warhammer to stand directly in front of it.
Just then, three lasers on the left side of Angela’s
BattleMaster caught the Warhammer directly in the cockpit,
killing the commander of the Kurita assault battalion instantly.
Shocked and more than a little frightened, the remaining
members of the Kurita battalion ceased their pursuit of the
retreating members of the Stealths. Instead, they obliterated
the BattleMaster—shooting, tearing, and stomping on the
pieces to make sure that both the machine and its pilot, the
Black Pearl, were dead.
A Steiner news crew happened to catch these heroic and
somewhat eerie events on holotape. It was broadcast widely,
and there was many an argument in taverns and pubs across
the Commonwealth about whether the Black Pearl had been
alive to give that one last salvo of laser fire, or if some quirk in
the mangled circuitry of the BattleMaster had caused it.
—From Legends of the LCAF, by Gen. Obda Simons,
Commonwealth Military Press, 3021
the LCAF, which had grown used to House Kurita’s
planet-hopping strategy rimward. Further, the Steiner high
command had been expecting the next strike to be
against Tamar or Sevren, and so they had been preparing
for that. Meanwhile, Sakhalin fell.
Only then did the generals of the Steiner high
Command realize Kurita’s intention. By holding Sakhalin,
Kurita effectively split the front into two separate theaters,
restricting the movement of Commonwealth troops along the
border. Control of Sakhalin also effectively pinched off the
Commonwealth worlds of Port Moseby, Aubisson, Buckminster,
and Camlann.
In 2863, the LCAF attempted to retake Sakhalin. Three ‘Mech
regiments, including the elite 3rd Donegal Guards and the famed
Stealths, dropped near four major target sites. The combination
of the fast-moving tactics of the Stealths and the punch packed
by the two heavy regiments proved very effective.
In October of that year, the Stealths met their end. In trying to
maneuver around a battle line and into the rear of the enemy’s
territory, the unit ran straight into a Kurita assault battalion
preparing for combat. Three hours later, the Stealths finally
managed to extricate themselves from the fight, but only after
they had lost over half their MechWarriors. Despite the loss, the
Commonwealth managed to recapture Sakhalin.
After that battle, the Archon and her generals decided to
retire the Stealths permanently. To honor the commander of the
Stealths, Elizabeth gave Colonel Raymond Winfield a dukedom
and control over his homeworld. Its original name of Treeline
was changed to Winfield in his honor.
THE THIRD SUCCESSION WAR
Peace? I’d like to think so. I hope we’re not just giving
our morticians and gravediggers a chance to catch their
breaths.
—Archon Elizabeth Steiner, on The Morning News
Hour, Donegal Broadcasting Co., January 3, 2864
LULL
The remaining few months of 2863 passed without major
fighting on either of the Commonwealth’s borders, which the
average Lyran interpreted as a sure sign that peace was just
around the corner. The Archon, however, was a bit more skeptical.
It was only after her intelligence sources reported a similar lull in
military action among the other Successor States that Elizabeth
decided to make peace gestures toward her neighbors.
The Archon dispatched high-level diplomats to the Draconis
Combine and the Free Worlds League to discuss the possibility
of treaties. After several months of intense negotiations, however,
the Steiner diplomats returned to Tharkad to report glumly that
the prospects for peace agreements with either realm were
remote.
Intoxicated by their own hopes for peace, the Estates General
chose to ignore this information and began to press for the
complete stand-down of the military, as well as the relaxation of
wartime austerity measures. When the whole of 2864 passed
without any major incident, a reluctant Archon gave in to the
growing public pressure for a partial stand-down of the LCAF.
She also released the civilian transports and freighters that the
military had appropriated, but only after they had performed
mercy missions to needy worlds.
Because of contracts triggered to expire after a period of
non-use, there was soon a glut of mercenary units free to
negotiate new contracts. These merc units ranged from the
adventurous sons of nobility in shiny new ‘Mechs to hardened
veterans whose ‘Mechs looked and fought as if demon-driven.
The Archon, her hopes of peace dimmed considerably by the
failed diplomatic missions, began actively to seek the services
of certain mercenary units.
Prior to this, the LCAF had taken a dim view of mercenaries,
whom they had considered to be little better than dangerous
scum. As more and more regular units broke with their
governments and turned mercenary, the attitude of the LCAF
brass slowly changed. Remembering how well many of the merc
units had performed in the field against House Steiner’s own
troops, the generals were not as opposed to hiring mercenary
units as they once were.
During the peace between the first and second wars, the
Commonwealth had hired the Narhal Raiders and the Filthy
Lucre, both of which had performed their duties for House Steiner
quite well. Both units had by now spent so much time in the
Commonwealth that they had established roots. Barring the
unexpected, it looked as though the LCAF would eventually
absorb the two units.
When the Archon let it be known that she was actively
seeking the service of other mercenary units to bolster the LCAF,
the generals grumbled a bit but did not oppose her. In 2864, the
Archon signed on the GraveWalkers, a heavy ‘Mech unit from
Davion. This was something of a coup, because the
GraveWalkers’ two regiments had been expected to remain with
the Federated Suns. Two years later, the Commonwealth
negotiated and signed the Bad Dream and the Blackhearts,
both of which contained light and medium ‘Mechs.
In the naive belief that the calm along the
Commonwealth’s borders was peace, the Estates
General and the public were disturbed by the Archon’s
hiring of mercenaries. They objected to spending so
much money to hire expensive fighting units that were
no longer necessary.
Mercenary Unit Profile
Unit Name: Narhal’s Raiders
CO: Leutnant-General William Matthews
Unit Size: Two regiments
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: No DropShips: Yes
JumpShips: No
Financial Situation: In debt to Commonwealth
Contract Expires: June 3027
Unit Profile:
Narhal’s Raiders was formed from a Marik regiment that
fled into the Periphery early in the First Succession War. After
teaming up with the remnants of a ‘Mech regiment from the
Rim Worlds Republic, the new unit took the name Narhal’s
Raiders after its leader, Tyilik Narhal, and the Narhal Rover, a
vicious, horned predator native to the commander’s world. It
is the stylized skull of a Narhal Rover that is depicted on the
unit’s patch. For ten years, Narhal’s Raiders plundered the
Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation.
In 2899, Ustinov Matthews overthrew the Narhal family’s
control of the unit. Tired of the brigand life, General Matthews
sought out and won agreeable contracts with the Capellan
Confederation and then the Federated Suns.
Just before the second war, Narhal’s Raiders moved to
the Lyran Commonwealth, where they have remained,
except for a short and disastrous stint with the Capellan
Confederation from 2849-2859. The unit’s financial situation
went from bad to worse because the Commonwealth made
sure the Raiders would stay put by managing to put them in
more debt than they could ever repay from their missions.
Toward the end of the second war, the Raiders were in
desperate shape.
In 2866, Archon Elizabeth Steiner purposely
renegotiated their contract in their favor to upgrade the unit’s
equipment and moral. Since that time, the Raiders have made
a steady comeback.
—From A Guidebook to the Mercenary Units Currently
Active in the Inner Sphere: Year 3025, Gen. Uston
Fitzwater, ed., ComStar Printers, 3025
ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH
In peace, there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage:
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect.
—From King Henry the Fifth, by William Shakespeare,
quoted by Archon Elizabeth in her speech announcing the
opening of the Third Succession War, Commonwealth
Historical Press, 2867
The public soon came to understand the Archon’s
eagerness to hire mercenary units. Because of the stand-down
order and the recent laxity of Steiner intelligence efforts, the
Draconis Combine got the advantage they needed to launch
their biggest offensive ever against the Commonwealth. The
first reports from besieged garrisons came from rimward worlds
such as Icar and Chateau, but eventually the true thrust of the
Kurita offensive became clear. The enemy intended to push their
way deep into the heart of the Federation of Skye.
The Archon and her high command faced a crucial decision
before the third war was a week old. Did they want to commit
their reserves to fight for worlds already under the axe? Worlds
such as Kannon, Kessel, Vega, and New Wessex were all
threatened by huge concentrations of Kurita military might. Or
did the high command want to hold their reserves on worlds
where they could prepare adequate defenses? Dromini VI, Ko,
Aubisson, Port Moseby, and Buckminster, were already fighting
off raids bent on softening up their defenses, but a stand on
these worlds was still possible.
The Archon’s decision was not to reinforce those worlds
already invaded. Troops on those planets were ordered to hold
on as long as possible, then to retreat offworld.
For the LCAF, the early months of the Kurita invasion were
some of its most shameful. Most Commonwealth units were
caught totally unprepared. The result was panic, with many units
retreating offworld after putting up only token resistance. Again,
the insidious lack of military skills among the higher officers
made itself felt on the field.
These acts of cowardice quickly turned a serious military
situation into a growing crisis that would threaten the very life of
the Commonwealth if the Federation of Skye fell. To combat this,
the Archon invoked the Military Disaster Act, effectively drafting
every many and woman into the military and stripping away the
bureaucrats and businessmen that separated the LCAF from
the defense industries. The act also ordered worlds not
immediately threatened by the invasion threat to surrender
portions of their militia to bolster the LCAF.
In 2867, the Mariks sought to win an alliance with House
Kurita by attempting to assassinate Archon Elizabeth Steiner. In
preparing for the mission, the Marik assassins had discovered
forgotten floor plans of the Royal Palace, which revealed several
secret passageways and hidden rooms. With the hope of using
these plans, the assassins made their way into the Throne Room.
As soon as they attempted to rush the Archon, her BattleMech
Guard promptly cut off and crushed the assassins. The Archon
was only slightly wounded. Investigators later discovered that it
was a disgruntled architect involved in rebuilding the Triad after
the quake of 2566 who had sold the plans to agents of House
Marik. The LIC made a thorough examination of the Royal Palace
and the other buildings in the Triad, and had any additional
secret passageways or rooms walled up or secured.
HANGING ON
Retreat? Hell. I’m just advancing in the opposite
direction.
—Lt.-Gen. Richard Frenders, on his withdrawal of
troops from combat on Kessel, in Military Transcripts:
Year 2869, Commonwealth Military Press, 2870
In the decades from 2866 to 2887, the Lyran Commonwealth
was reeling from repeated losses on both its fronts. Never had
the realm suffered so many humiliating defeats. Military
discipline slowly disintegrated, with more and more units
disobeying orders in order to protect themselves. Those few
units with the courage to stand and fight often sacrificed
themselves so that the next Steiner world to be attacked might
have a few extra days to prepare itself for a similar life-or-death
struggle.
The assassination attempt on Archon Elizabeth in 2867
signaled the resumption of hostilities between the Lyran
Commonwealth and the Free
Worlds League. Because the Steiner forces had been so
preoccupied with the Kurita invasion, the Marik attacks of early
2869 met with considerable success. Though their moves
throughout the next decade were not as ambitious as Lord
Kurita’s, the Free Worlds League managed to take the Steiner
worlds of Amity, New Hope, and Nestor, plus several secondary
planets.
As the 2870s came to a close, the Commonwealth military
had regained enough of its composure to attempt to recover
some of the lost worlds. For every world the Commonwealth
managed to take back, however, their enemies took two more,
rendering the LCAF’s victories useless. By 2884, the Kurita
offensive had pushed its way deep into the Federation of Skye.
Having taken Vega, Kessel, Skondia, Balken, Ryde, and Port
Moseby, they were well on their way to threatening the planet
Skye itself.
The Commonwealth opened its own offensive against the
Draconis Combine in 2885. They attacked worlds on the rimward
portion of the border, hoping that House Kurita would have to
draw some of its units away from its offensive to combat this new
threat. Despite successful Steiner invasions of New Caledonia,
Keller, and Harvest, it soon became clear that House Kurita was
drawing few, if any, units away from its thrust into the
Commonwealth. Faced with this failure to slow the enemy’s thrust,
the Steiner high command cancelled their rimward offensive
and abandoned their gains.
The only bright spots for the Lyran Commonwealth during
these otherwise disastrous decades were the return to ‘civilized
warfare’, the hiring of the Eridani Light Horse, and the formation
of the Stealthy Tigers.
THREE STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Though major hostilities were now erupting for the
third time among the five Successor States, fighting
would become less destructive. The people and their
leaders had grown tired of fighting themselves into
exhaustion, with nothing to show for it except smoking
ruins and the stench of death. The five armies began to
fight with an eye to preserving the resources of the planet under
attack, as well as their own resources. Ironically, this humane
trend began among the forces of Lord Kurita, formerly the most
ruthless of all five militaries.
As the might of the Draconis Combine forced its way into
the Commonwealth, the regiments of the serpent began
deliberately to spare industries and population centers. The
Commonwealth gladly complied with these new unwritten rules.
Soon, the unofficial ‘policy’ had taken hold among all five
Successor States, much to the relief of civilian and soldier alike.
In 2871, the Eridani Light Horse was in need of employment.
They had spent several years languishing in the Periphery after
internal dissension had forced them out of the Free Worlds
League. The mercenary unit made contacts with the Lyran
Commonwealth, which immediately jumped at the chance to
hire the three elite regiments of fast and mobile ‘Mechs. After
signing a contract with House Steiner in 2872, elements of the
Eridani Light Horse began making their way into the
Commonwealth. New Karlsruh, a small agricultural world in the
Federation of Skye, became their home base.
In 2874, frightened by the seriousness of the Kurita threat,
the Duke of Tamar used a bit of legal trickery to create his own
‘mercenary unit’. Named the Stealthy Tigers, this unit was an
obvious attempt to recapture the effective weaponry and tactics
of the Tamar Tigers and the Stealths. Because the Stealthy Tigers
were technically a mercenary unit-they negotiated a yearly
contract with the LCAF-the Duke could legally buy them much
heavier ‘Mechs than he could for any of his private ‘Mech
regiments. As a result, the Stealthy Tigers became a four-battalion
regiment, with three battalions of light ‘Mechs and a battalion of
assault ‘Mechs. This gave the unit considerable punch to go
along with its swiftness.
THE BATTLE FOR SKYE
Invade Skye? Forcing Lord Kurita to grovel at our
feet would be less dangerous than ordering us to invade
Skye!
—Taped comments of Kurita ‘Mech officer upon
hearing his unit’s assignment, recovered from body
of ISF officer: in Military Information: Year 2895,
Commonwealth Military Press, 2896
After the fall of Freedom and the loss of the 3rd Skye Rangers
on its snowy slopes, the Lord Kurita turned his sights toward the
planet Skye. Skye is much more than just another industrialized
world. Even the fact that it is also the capital of the Federation of
Skye does not explain this planet’s importance. Skye is the
emotional heart of billions who grew up thinking that its beautiful
but austere vistas are the most lovely sights in the universe,
outside of the British Isles.
The Archon realized this strong bond and so made the
defense of the planet her top priority. She sent the Narhal Raiders,
the 8th Donegal Guards, and twelve armor and infantry
regiments to reinforce the 17th Skye Rangers already awaiting
the invasion.
When the invasion came, the Commonwealth units
responded with a fierceness never seen before. To this day,
Commonwealth historians have not decided whether it was the
shining moment of the LCAF or its darkest, vilest day. The Steiner
forces committed many atrocities, including the ‘accidental’
deaths of Kurita prisoners and the use of a tactical nuclear device
near Inverness to stop a Kurita thrust. Despite the horror and the
fact that these incidents endangered the new rules of war, the
Archon chose to look the other way.
The Battle for Bannockburn Bogs was the pivotal action of
House Kurita’s attempt to take Skye. A Kurita ‘Mech battalion
and a tank regiment were ordered to seize New Glasgow, the
capital city of Skye. With a dark and fog-filled night coming on,
the Kurita force found its path blocked by a wide bog that could
be crossed only by a narrow highway. They wasted what little
light was left trying to cross the bog in a normal wide front, only
to have their ‘Mechs nearly swallowed up by the sucking ooze.
By now dark had fallen, forcing the Kurita forces to halt for the
night on the highway while their tanks refueled.
The noise of the refueling obscured the sounds of two
companies of Skye ‘Mechs moving slowly through the bogs on
paths known only to them. As dawn broke and the fog lifted, the
Kurita forces, confined to long columns on the road, were
surrounded by the Skye Rangers. The battle, which included
heavy combat between AeroSpace Fighters of both sides,
resulted in the destruction of most of the Kurita force, with the
survivors having no choice but to retreat. It was a major victory
for the Commonwealth, both militarily and emotionally. Though
the invasion of Skye was to drag on for 13 more months, the
Kurita forces were now on the defensive.
A young MechWarrior in the LCAF cools off after battle.
She wears a neurohelmet, which feeds information about
the BattleMech directly into her mind. The small, lightweight
helmet used by the LCAF is an example of superior
Commonwealth technology. She is also wearing the cooling
vest that makes life bearable inside an overheating ‘Mech.
Te small patches on her arms and legs are biofeedback
sensors that monitor heat and muscle twitches to activate
certain ‘Mech movements. The blue of her shirt, shorts, and
sweat-bands identify her as a junior officer.
CALLING ALL CITIZENS
I didn’t expect to be a very popular leader. But I
assumed I would be the unpopular leader of the
Commonwealth and not of 300 separate, selfish worlds.
—Archon Eric Steiner, on objections to his revision
of the Military Services Act, in Royal Court Transcripts
Year 2909, Commonwealth Historical Press, 2909
When Archon Elizabeth Steiner died in her sleep in 2895,
there was no opposition to her son Eric assuming control over
the Lyran Commonwealth. The Kurita offensive continued over
the next four years, as they seized Imbro, Buckminster, Moore,
Phalan, Sakhalin, and Orestes, but the LCAF was giving the
enemy a good fight.
Intelligence that the Stealthy Tigers had managed to obtain
before the fall of Sakhalin revealed that the Combine’s attention
had shifted rimward. The fighting spirit of those defending the
Federation of Skye had made it too expensive for the Draconis
Combine to continue there. Now the Tamar Pact was its target.
Meanwhile, the Archon and the high command set about
rebuilding their military and planning a new defense.
BIG ‘MECHS-SMALL MINDS
Many thought that the unwritten rules of war would
handicap the fighting ability of the Lyran Commonwealth.
Now that war had become a chess match of maneuver and
counter-maneuver, it could put the LCAF at a great
disadvantage; because maneuverability was certainly not
its military strong point. Indeed, many a lance, company,
and even a few battalions would be forced to surrender
when they found themselves outclassed in these skills.
The rules did give the Commonwealth one important
advantage. If any Steiner unit could put up enough of a
fight, particularly when on the defensive, there was a good
chance that the enemy would be forced to give up and
leave. In a universe of diminishing supplies, fighting
became as much a question of economics as strategy and
tactics. Whenever the Commonwealth units, in their
formidable heavy ‘Mechs and armor, were able to impress
on the enemy how high a price they would have to pay to
win, their attackers often did refuse the challenge, sometimes
leaving the field without firing a shot.
—From The Conventions of War Throughout Man’s
History, by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth Historical
Press, 3023
In this turn-of-the-century era, the Steiner armies were
critically short of men to replace their losses, especially among
the infantry and tank regiments. Many regimental commanders
considered themselves lucky if they could field 70 percent of
their full strength. This lack of manpower cost the Commonwealth
the worlds of Perrot, Wheel, and Hyperion when its ‘soft’-infantry,
tank, and artillery-regiments were unable to cover the terrain
assigned them.
To meet this emergency, Archon Eric made a very unpopular
decision. In 2908, he announced major modifications in the
Military Services Acts. First, he increased the number of years of
military service from 3 to 5 years. He also lowered the minimum
age for conscription from 19 to 16, and drastically reduced the
exemptions that might excuse a young man or woman from
service.
The public outcry was tremendous. Even those
worlds directly threatened by the Draconis Combine had
misgivings. Other worlds that made their living from
farming or growing meat animals were especially vocal
in their anger. Their objections were that their ranches
and farms had been deprived of reliable farming
machinery by the ravages of war, and now they were
being asked to give up the labor provided by their young people
sooner and for longer periods. On many worlds, demonstrations
against the new policy escalated into riots that had to be put
down by the local militia. The nobility understood the need for
these new measures, however, and it was with their help that
Eric weathered the political storm.
REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES (continued)
2ND DONEGAl Guards: ‘Caesar’s Legion’
The unit got its unofficial nickname after Caesar
Steiner assumed command.
3rd Donegal Guards: ‘The Justice Brigade’
The unit became known as the Justice Brigade
after it adopted a regimental patch featuring a set of
scales to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of
the Commonwealth Supreme Court on Donegal.
4th Donegal Guards: ‘The Red Horde’
The unit earned its nickname when a large
contingent of recruits from the planet Odessa joined
the ‘Mech regiment as pilots and Techs during the
second war.
5th Donegal Guards: ‘Bulldogs’
6th Donegal Guards: ‘White Hawks’
7th Donegal Guards: ‘Earthquakers’
8th Donegal Guards: ‘Mud Wrestlers’
10th Donegal Guards: ‘Lilly’s Lancers’
Colonel Lilly Stenman is this unit’s first
commanding officer. Colonel Stenman gained fame
for impaling a charging Kurita ‘Mech on a steel girder
she had picked up when her ‘Mech ran out of
ammunition during a battle.
11th Donegal Guards: ‘The Push-Me-Pull-Yours’
12th Donegal Guards: ‘The Crocodiles’
13th Donegal Guards: ‘The Black Cats’
14th Donegal Guards: ‘The Dawn Chargers’
17th DonegaL GUARDS: ‘THE CHESHIRE CATS’
—From The Fists of House Steiner: A Layman’s
Look at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by
Miclos Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
As the military began to swell with new recruits, the
Steiner high command began to consider the Archon’s
new plan for another offensive. Codenamed ‘Operation
Freedom’, the offensive was aimed at regaining vital
industries by liberating worlds in the Federation of Skye.
Kobe and Sevren fell to Kurita in 2912, leaving Tamar
directly threatened. The need to divert House Kurita’s
attention away from the capital of Tamar became another urgent
reason to launch a new offensive. The generals quickly approved
the Archon’s plan and preparations began.
THE COST OF FREEDOM
The tough thing about freedom is that it forces each person
to judge for himself whether he is worthy of his dreams. Some
other States don’t allow their people even a glimpse of such
possibilities, which ‘frees’ their people from the burden of choice.
—From Simon Borge Steiner: The Man Who Would Be
Archon, by Graf Harold Tedbury, Proud Skye Press, 3023
Operation Freedom began in February 2913. Its first
objectives were to liberate the worlds of Dalkeith, Skondia, Ryde,
and Freedom. This was to be accomplished with two separate
thrusts, one from the planet Alexandria, the other from Skye.
The Archon personally commanded the 3rd Royal Guards
on Freedom. Through skillful maneuvering and strong attacks,
the 3rd pushed two battalions of the Kurita 6th Sword of Light
into a horseshoe-shaped valley surrounded by sheer cliff walls.
The enemy had barely realized their predicament before the
Royal Guards had blocked the only way out of the valley. As the
Royal Guards’ artillery and air support proceeded to pound the
trapped Kurita ‘Mechs with almost constant bombardment for
three days and nights, the barrels of their Long Toms and Snipers
glowed from overuse.
The once green valley now resembled the landscape of a
cratered moon. Only then did the Archon lead the Royal Guards
into the valley. Within a few hours, the battalions of the Kurita 6th
Sword of Light were no more, and news of this major victory was
soon on its way throughout the Commonwealth.
Bad news followed quickly on the heels of the good,
however. Archon Eric Steiner was killed when his Zeus stepped
on a vibrabomb near a cliff face where the bombardment had
not churned the ground. The explosion crippled and froze the
Zeus’s leg, which toppled the ‘Mech forward. As fate would have
it, the head and chest fell directly on another hidden vibrabomb,
killing the Archon instantly in the explosion.
The entire Steiner offensive slowed down at news of Eric
Steiner’s death, almost coming to a grinding halt until the
succession to the throne could be decided. There was no official
heir to the Archonship, but Eric’s two grown children both claimed
the throne. The whole realm braced itself for what looked to be
an inevitable struggle for power.
Eric’s eldest son, and therefore unofficial successor, was
Simon Borge Steiner. Though a bright and personable young
man, he suffered from the sudden and severe mood swings of
Dowbrowski Depression-A Syndrome. As much as everyone
admired the young man in his lucid moments, his affliction did
not make him a promising ruler. Worst of all, Simon had grown
up dreaming of the Archonship, and it was perhaps the one
hope that made his life bearable. Tatyana, Eric’s daughter, loved
her brother so deeply that she accused of treason anyone who
dared question his suitability for the throne.
Hoping for a miracle, both the nobility and the Estates
General postponed the ceremonies acknowledging
Simon as Archon for several months. They prayed that
somehow Tatyana would realize that her brother’s rise
to power could have frightening, even disastrous
consequences for the whole realm.
On June 6, 2914, the nobility and Representatives
crowded into the Throne Room. Despite all their efforts, Simon
was to take the throne. The room grew hushed as the young
man appeared before the assembled guests. Tatyana followed
closely behind, her expression unfathomable.
Standing tall before the assembly, Simon spoke. With great
eloquence and emotion, he announced that he was ceding his
right to the Archonship in favor of Tatyana. When he had done,
the stunned crowd watched silently as Simon then escorted his
sister to the throne and draped the Chain of State about his
sister’s neck, where the Steiner Fist glinted brilliantly.
With Tatyana Steiner now officially the 25th Archon, Simon
Steiner slipped out of the Throne Room, never to step foot in it
again.
Regimental Nicknames (continued)
8th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Hell or High Water Boys’
During a campaign on Loric during the First Succession
War, the unit earned its name when it had to twice walk
through forest fires and ford deep rivers.
11th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Golden Lions’
15th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Stavlos Tigers’
This unit is named after the Arcturan subspecies of
tigers. Tiger stripes are painted on the upper arms of the
unit’s ‘Mechs.
17th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Kezla Rams’
19th Arcturan Guards: ‘Puma’
20th Arcturan Guards: ‘The White Bears of Uther’
Named for the ferocious Arcturan polar bears of Uther,
this unit is expert at cold-weather combat. The unit’s symbol
shows the head of a growling polar bear full face beneath
the six-sided red star of Arcturus.
23rd Arcturan Guards: ‘The Frost Giants’
This unit was originally composed of the descendants
of Arcturan Northern Nomads and Tharkan woodsmen. Both
groups are highly skilled in traveling through rough terrain
and cold-weather survival.
24th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Red Indians’
25th Arcturan Guards: ‘The Kewran Wolfhounds’
—From The Fists of House Steiner: A Layman’s Look
at the BattleMech Regiments of the LCAF, by Miclos
Davion, NAIS Printers, 3022
THE OPEN WOUND
Yup, there’s nothing like a life-or-death struggle
before breakfast. I enjoy sweating like a pig and soiling
my pants for fear of my life before the sun rises. Nothing
like it to stimulate the ol’ appetite.
—From The MechWarrior’s Bawdy Review, comedy
holoseries by Basil Fawlty, Tamar Broadcasting Co.,
Sept. 18, 3004
In March of 2915, House Kurita attempted an invasion of
Tamar. Three ‘Mech regiments, the 2nd Sword of Light, the 20th
Dieron Regulars, and the 4th Proserpina Hussars, along with
twelve soft regiments, were chosen for the attack. Opposing
them were seven Steiner regiments, including Duke Kelswa’s
Stealthy Tigers, the 82nd Heavy Cavalry, and the 17th Recon
battalions from the Eridani Light Horse.
The Kurita commanding officer placed great store in
psychological warfare. He dispatched emissaries who were
ordered to spell out the terrible consequences of failing to accept
House Kurita’s demand for complete surrender. The messengers
even revealed parts of the invasion plans to demonstrate their
great confidence to the lowly Commonwealth defenders. The
Steiner commanders tried to laugh this episode off, but it did
plant the worm of doubt.
The invasion developed much as the Kurita emissaries had
promised. Though well-prepared for the assault, many of the
Commonwealth defenders suddenly became as incompetent
and cowardly as they had been at the start of this war. Many later
blamed it on the psychological ploy of the enemy commander. Is
it possible that his strategy could account for the sheer stupidity
of officers such as Hauptmann Richardson? The man seemed
hell-bent on sending his group of Stealthy Tigers into oblivionand all before the cameras of a holocrew.
Many military historians have tried to pinpoint how and why
the defenders of Tamar were finally able to shake off their cloak
of ineptitude. Whenever it occurred, whatever the cause, the
Commonwealth defenders suddenly became more aggressive
in their defense of Tamar, surprising the Kurita forces with their
skill and courage. Infantry units showed the greatest
improvements, with the 321st Tamar Mechanized Infantry and
the 54th Combined Arms Combat Team particularly outstanding.
Seven months after the Kurita invasion began, the Steiner
defenders had forced the last enemy troops off Tamar. Though
the people greeted this with joy, the Archon and her high
command knew that Tamar had not seen the last of Kurita. They
realized that as the planet was the center of the Tamar Pact, it
still represented a tempting target for the Draconis Combine,
especially after the humiliating defeat of their recent invasion. In
discussing all this, Tatyana and her commanders began to hatch
a controversial plan to lure House Kurita into tying up a portion
of its military in another attack on Tamar.
Though the Duke of Tamar bitterly opposed the plan, the
Archon and the LCAF withdrew two Eridani Light Horse battalions
from Tamar, making no effort to conceal it from the Draconis
Combine. Lord Kurita took the bait soon after, only to be pushed
back by Steiner reinforcements from worlds like Vulcan and Dell.
The Mauling of Richardson’s Company
Assigned to hold a pass between the two low
ridges, Richardson concealed his ‘Mechs in a forest
that covered the mouth of the pass. He was supported
by a company of tanks and four platoons of infantry,
which were spread out and concealed in front of him.
Richardson’s first mistake was the assumption that his
men would only be facing enemy ‘Mech forces. When the
Kurita jump infantry appeared, they soon uncovered the
Commonwealth infantrymen. Armed with missile launchers
that fired napalm missiles, the Steiner soldiers could not
effectively fight the fast-moving Kurita infantry.
Richardson’s second mistake was in not ordering his
infantry to withdraw. Instead, he ordered his tanks to break
cover and advance to support his infantry. Seeing the tanks,
the Kurita infantry immediately broke off and retreated. A
few moments later, an artillery barrage hit the tanks, leaving
only five tanks intact.
Richardson’s third mistake was in not considering the
ridgetops when he ordered his ‘Mechs and the rest of his
entire company to move into the narrow ravine. The light,
jump-capable ‘Mechs of a Kurita Hussar regiment took these
ridgetops and began to shoot down at the exposed ‘Mechs
of Richardson’s company.
Hauptmann Richardson’s last mistake was that he
concentrated so much attention against the ‘Mechs on the
ridgetops that he did not discover that heavier enemy ‘Mechs
were also lurking. Hauptmann Richardson did not even
see the Kurita Phoenix Hawk and the rest of the Kurita
heavy ‘Mechs running down the ravine path and directly
into Richardson’s Company.
All cadets at Steiner military academies are now
required to view holotapes of Richardson’s last battle for a
vivid lesson in how not to fight a ‘Mech battle.
—From Strategies and Tactics in the Modem Age, by
Gen. Roland Tozma, Commonwealth Military Press,
3018
This policy of deliberately under-manning Tamar to
entice House Kurita into attempted raids continued for
the next 60 years. In each of those years, the Combine
struck at least three times, only to be repelled every time
by the Stealthy Tigers and reinforcements arriving just in
time from other worlds. Though none of those battles
caused much damage to either the planet’s population
or industry, decades of warfare took their toll. Many once beautiful
sections of Tamar were churned into mud by the weight of ‘Mechs
on the march. The plan was ultimately successful, however, for
House Kurita continued to keep at least two Kurita ‘Mech
regiments and numerous other armor and infantry regiments
occupied with Tamar, which effectively kept them away from
other regions of the Commonwealth.
THE TRAITOR TERTREN
Traitor is merely the name losers have for their more prudent
friends.
—Remark by Hauptmann Mikhail Tertren, recorded in
Report to the Captain-General on Possible Enemy
Information Sources: 2928, Intelligence Print Office, 2928
After the LCAF stopped the initial Kurita invasion of Tamar,
their attention was forced back to the Marik front. In 2924, the
Free Worlds League launched successful invasions of the
planets Wing and Callison, despite the presence of the elite
50th Heavy Cavalry Battalion of the Eridani Light Horse on Wing.
In 2928, House Marik followed up their success with a daring
raid against the ‘Mech repair facility on Solaris. With exquisite
guile, the Marik commanders tricked the planet’s garrison into
believing that the world’s water purification plants were the
intended targets. This left the BattleMech repair station wide
open to an assault by a ‘Mech unit of Marik Awesomes. The
damage they did to the facility took repair crews five years
reconstruct.
In retaliation for the attack on Solaris, the LCAF launched a
raid against the Marik-owned world of Stewart in hopes of
destroying the heavy mining industries there. The Marik
defenders had anticipated the raid, however. With the help of
reinforcements from the Regulan Hussars, they severely mauled
the Lyran Regulars.
Many Commonwealth soldiers were captured alive in that
raid. Among these was Hauptmann Mikhail Tertren, the first son
of a minor noble family. An opportunist and great believer in the
Commonwealth ethic of business before all, Hauptmann Tertren
secretly informed his captors that he would work for them. As a
result, House Marik made the apparently magnanimous gesture
of releasing the captive men and women from the 12th Lyran
Regulars on New Years Eve.
Tertren’s treachery began soon after. House Marik’s invasion
of Shiloh was aided by vital information from Tertren sent via
Marik agents and traders. At Tertren’s suggestion, House Marik
also began extensive use of terrorist squads on border worlds
to stir up public sentiment against the Commonwealth. So
persistent were these attacks by small groups of highly trained
soldiers that Lohengrin, the Steiner anti-terrorist squad, was
spending most of its time hunting down the Marik commandos.
In 2937, Tatyana Steiner, world-weary and longing for a
peaceful retirement, stepped down. Marco Steiner assumed the
Archonship, but not without some reluctance. A poet by training,
his earlier dealings with the government had instilled in him a
thorough contempt for politicians. The Lyran people would not
let him walk away from the Archonship, however. They feared
another sadistic reign of terror at the hands of Marco’s
violent younger brother, whom many compared to
Claudius Steiner. When Marco Steiner relented, he
became the 26th Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth.
The fact that a Marik spy existed somewhere among
the high levels of Steiner military or intelligence
convinced the new Archon that he must take decisive
action. After several secret talks with his Chancellor of the LIC
and the ranking general of the LCAF, Marco came up with a
plan. The LIC’s investigations had narrowed in on four likely
candidates for the spy. The high command invited each of these
four into a separate planning session for a single raid against a
Marik world. The raid that turned out least successfully could
help point the finger at the traitor.
Of the four raids, three were not especially glorious, but at
least the enemy did not appear to have been tipped off in
advance. The fourth raid was against the planet Thera, where
the Steiner forces encountered Marik units that had been
reported 30 light years away until a week before the raid. The
junior officer who had helped design the Thera raid was
Hauptmann Tertren.
Tertren fled before the Commonwealth authorities could
capture him. When all subsequent efforts to track him proved
fruitless, the high command created a web of heavy security to
thwart any further treachery by Tertren. For many years, all
operations along the Marik border labored under tremendous
security procedures because of paranoia over Tertren. Even the
most simple action along the border became painfully slow,
clogged by the need for mountains of security clearance and
other red tape.
The whereabouts of the traitor Tertren did not come to light
until 2952. In that year, the 3rd Marik Militia came to the attention
of the Steiner high command because of the marked
improvement of its tactical skills. After the Militia returned to the
front lines from a period of rest, its fighting ability became so
pronounced one might have thought that that the regiment’s
commander knew Lyran tactics and procedures by heart.
Using the 3rd Marik Militia as its spearhead, the Free Worlds
League successfully invaded Cavanaugh 11 in 2952. Instead of
mounting an attack to reclaim the planet, the Steiner
commanders decided to kill the Militia’s wizardly commander.
Chosen for the job was the 5th Striker Battalion of the Eridani
Light Horse.
With its skill in drops from dangerously steep angles, the
5th managed to land near the city where the 3rd Marik Militia
had its command. In a pitched battle that required more and
more reinforcements from other Marik ‘Mechs, the Light Horse
battalion succeeded in killing the leader of the Marik Militia.
When the victorious Light Horse commander opened the cockpit
of the vanquished leader’s Marauder, he saw that it was none
other than Mikhail Tertren, the Commonwealth traitor. The entire
Commonwealth high command heaved a collective sigh of relief
at the news.
CAMPAIGN FOR ALEXANDRIA
The planet Alexandria became the focus of the
largest battle fought in the Steiner realm during the
third war. It started rather inauspiciously, however, as a
simple raid by House Kurita.
In 2953, Kurita sent McGee’s Cutthroats to pillage
and destroy certain supply depots on Alexandria. Facing
them were two battalions of the 20th Arcturan Guards and
an excellent planetary garrison that included one of the few
orbiting fighter bases in the Commonwealth. This latter fact
seems to have escaped the Cutthroats’ attention. After
dropping the Cutthroats, the Kurita ships pulled toward their
station point in orbit around the planet. On the way, the Air
Wing from the orbiting Steiner base came after them. After
destroying one Kurita DropShip, the Lyran fighters forced
the other DropShips to retreat to their JumpShip.
Faced with the very real possibility of surrender, Colonel
McGee called for help. Within a few days, a second Kurita
JumpShip arrived to deliver two additional battalions of
‘Mechs and fighter support. Now it was the turn of the Arcturan
Guards’ commander to call for help.
So what began as a simple skirmish quickly
mushroomed into a campaign. The battle for Alexandria
lasted two years and involved a total of seven different ‘Mech
regiments before it finally ended in 2955.
—From Encyclopedia Res Publica, Thelos Auburn,
ed., Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
THE REIGN OF GIOVANNI STEINER
I’m perfectly willing to go into the history books as
‘ol’ what’s his name’ if it means I can quietly look after the
citizens of the Commonwealth and occasionally ride my
horses.
—Archon Giovanni Steiner, reacting to satirical holo
portraying him as a bland fool, in A Look at the Steiner
Family, By Cevin Stenman, Commonwealth Press,
2978
In late 2952, Marco Steiner retired at 40 years of age. The
popular explanation for his early resignation was that he, like
his mother, had grown tired of the responsibilities of running the
Commonwealth. The truth was that he was suffering from
incurable pancreatic cancer. Because of the pain and the drugs
he was taking to slow the progress of the disease, he knew he
must step down. Somehow no one ever noticed the drug-induced
haze in which he had spent his final years as Archon.
Giovanni Steiner, Marco’s son, assumed the Archonship.
Just 20 years old, Giovanni had recently graduated from Tharkad
University with degrees in economics and political science. An
atypical Steiner, Giovanni had spent his early life completely
uninterested in the military sciences. This worried many in the
nobility and the high command, who had come to rely on the
Steiners’ military skills as well as their political prowess.
Giovanni’s reign as Archon began on a good note, however.
It was during the celebration of his accession to the throne that
messengers arrived with news that the Lyran forces had retaken
Phalan from the Draconis Combine. Operation Freedom was
finally accomplishing more than just raids against Kuritaoccupied worlds. The invasion of Phalan, accomplished with 17
regiments, including three ‘Mech regiments, was a turning point
for the Commonwealth military. Because of new and extensive
training programs in boot camps and military academies, House
Steiner was finally producing the kind of skilled soldiers that
could meet the enemy on equal terms. This did not mean that the
incompetent ‘social generals’ were gone, but there was now at
least the potential for putting up a good fight.
The fears the High Command had about Giovanni’s lack of
military experience proved unfounded. The Archon paid close
attention to his advisors and learned from them. It was not long
before he began to make his own military decisions. When these
proved to be sound, the entire LCAF was relieved.
Giovanni did more than become a competent strategist.
Because of his training as an economist, he was able to jump
into the financial quagmire that weighed down the LCAF. He
substantially altered how the money flowed through the
organization and trimmed back the monstrously huge
bureaucracy. By saving in some areas, he was able to purchase
substantial reserve supplies. This stockpiling of supplies would
soon prove a most fortunate precaution.
After decades of undisturbed weapons production,
the ninth battle for the factories on Hesperus II took place
in 2957. Despite the fact that those factories lay deep
within the protective arms of three mountain ranges,
House Kurita units from two ‘Mech regiments dropped
directly on top of the facilities rather than onto the plains
a hundred miles away. The action surprised those on the
ground, with most Commonwealth ‘Mechs out of position to
defend the factories. While many of the dropping ‘Mechs were
destroyed on the mountainsides or were left isolated because
they fell off-target, a good number did manage to land within the
industrial complex. They succeeded in doing considerable
damage to the factories before the Steiner ‘Mech units hunted
the units down and destroyed them to a man. The Hesperus II
factories’ output was slashed by 50 percent, and it would be 20
years before production returned to its normal level.
By 2967, this drop in ‘Mech and weapons production was
having its effect. The ability of the LCAF to restock its ‘Mech
regiments with new machines was dwindling, and the once
abundant stockpiles of spare parts were diminishing at an
alarming rate. Operation Freedom was now in danger of grinding
to a halt, with many ‘Mechs forced off the frontlines while Techs
Mercenary Profile
Unit Name: 12th Star Guards
CO: Hauptmann-General Mitch DeChavilier
Unit Size: 4 regiments
Skill Level:
1st Regiment (River’s Gamblers): Veteran
2nd Regiment (Ohell’s Heavies): Regular
3rd Regiment (Paget’s War Ponies): Veteran
7th Regiment (Scovy’s Ironmen): Green
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: Yes
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: November 3026
Notes:
The 12th Star Guards is a mercenary unit with an
extremely long and varied history. Two of the unit’s regiments,
Paget’s War Ponies and Ohell’s Heavies, began their lives as
the 42nd Striker Regiment and the 10th Heavy Assault
Regiment of the Star League’s Regular Army. When the Star
League fell, the two units banded together.
While in the employ of the Capellan Confederation, the
unit got its current name after being assigned to protect twelve
vital worlds along the Capellan border with the Federated
Suns. Known at first as the 12 Stars Guards, the name
scrounged for spare parts. Periphery units were
especially hard-hit, as they had not been assigned
sufficient spare parts to begin with because their
operations were not considered crucial. As a result, the
Periphery worlds faced increasingly vicious raids from
the Bandit Kingdoms. The defending Commonwealth
‘Mechs, hobbling about on the verge of total collapse
from lack of proper maintenance, were rarely successful in
fighting back.
To combat the problem, Giovanni Steiner made an important
addition to the Commonwealth military in 2967. Learning of the
12th Star Guards’ increasing unhappiness with their current
employer, the Archon sent liaison officers to contact them through
the Mercenary Guild Halls. The members of the 12th negotiated
and eventually agreed to the terms offered by House Steiner.
The Commonwealth now had a mercenary unit that was
reasonably well-equipped, which would help conserve supplies
because the merc units would be using their own instead of
House Steiner’s.
With its four regiments, the 12th Star Guards is one of the
largest mercenary units in the Inner Sphere, and has a long and
colorful history dating from the Star League era. Three months
after they signed with House Steiner, elements of the Star Guards
began arriving in the Lyran Commonwealth.
eventually evolved into the 12th Star Guards. Since that time,
the unit has swelled from its original two regiments to an alltime high of seven during the Second Succession War. While
employed by the Draconis Combine, the 12th Star Guards
lost two regiments, one due to lack of pay, and another to a bit
of Combine deception that left a regiment stranded on an
enemy world.
The 12th Star Guards spent the beginning of the third war
in the Federated Suns. Due to its chronic money problems,
two battalions of the 6th regiment defected to the Draconis
Combine when Kurita attacked them on the Davion world of
Elidere IV. As a result, the 7th regiment contains four battalions,
having absorbed the one remaining battalion from the 6th.
The unit’s financial situation did not improve after they
signed with the Commonwealth in 2967. A corrupt liaison
officer from the LCAF embezzled a near fortune meant for the
Star Guards. By the time he was discovered, the Guards were
in even worse shape.
Angry about this kind of management, the unit signed
next with the Federated Suns in 3012, lured by Davion’s
promises of action and good pay. This move improved their
situation only slightly, however.
In re-signing with the Commonwealth in 3024, the Star
Guards hope to take advantage of the realm’s wealth of
supplies and Katrina Steiner’s promises of generous pay. The
Archon intends to make it a point of paying this unit upfront
because they are important to her future plans.
Though the Star Guards are not as tradition-bound as the
Eridani Light Horse, the unit’s present commander is aware of
his unit’s past glory and uses it to his advantage. He holds a
particular grudge against the Draconis Combine and the
Federated Suns.
—From A Guidebook to the Mercenary Units Currently
Active in the Inner Sphere: Year 3025, Gen. Uston
Fitzwater, ed., ComStar Printers, 3025
THE BATTLE FOR LORIC
Loric? Where’s Loric?
—Archon Giovanni, quoted in A Look at the Steiner
Family, by Cevin Stenman, Commonwealth Press,
2978
Loric is a rich world sitting in the middle of the
Commonwealth’s border with the Free Worlds League. Even
though various raids and invasion attempts throughout three
major wars have ruined some of the planet’s beauty, its remaining
gentle shorelines, rugged mountains, and deep, dark forests
continue to make this world a favorite playground of the rich in
times of peace or near-calm.
The 5th Regulan Hussars, supported by twelve other
regiments of armor and infantry, dropped onto the Eastern
Continent of Loric in late 2971. Aided by a severe electrical
storm, the Hussars managed to overwhelm the Commonwealth
defender groups at Diggers Pass, where they had hoped to
keep House Marik from taking the whole continent. After knocking
out the Lyran defenders on that continent, the Hussars moved
on and took the Northern Continent. They now owned over half
of Loric.
The Steiner high command realized that the loss of Loric
could effectively cut off distant worlds like Poulsbo, Denebola V,
Teukros, and Bobruisk, threatening them with invasion. Though
the reconquest of Loric was the Archon’s number one priority,
the current shortage of supplies had sapped the strength of the
‘Mech regiments around Loric. Meanwhile, his generals were
unwilling to take troops away from their fight against Kurita in
order to assist the fight on Loric. Faced with these obstacles, the
Archon decided to contract ‘Mech mercenaries to win back Loric.
The 2nd Regiment (Ohell’s Heavies) of the 12th Star
Guards and the 11th and 17th Recon Battalions from
the Eridani Light Horse led ten lesser regiments in the
effort to take back Loric. The fact that mercenary units
were selected to lead this important mission showed
how much confidence the high command placed in their
skills.
The plan was simple but risky. The two recon battalions
would execute a dangerous drop into enemy-controlled territory
to harass the continuing buildup of Marik forces. Ohell’s Heavies
would assault the vital Digger’s Pass area. Between the two
forces, the Commonwealth hoped to catch the majority of Marik’s
forces.
The result was a victory for House Steiner, but not before
the two recon battalions were on the verge of exhaustion after
more than four months of guerrilla warfare. Stripped of their
control of the mountains, the Marik forces were forced to retreat.
After being chased about for several months, they had eventually
to withdraw from Loric.
In 2977, the reconstruction of the BattleMech facilities on
Hesperus II were finally completed, allowing these factories to
resume producing ‘Mech after ‘Mech for the Commonwealth.
This good news came during a lull in the fighting. Taking
advantage of this break in the action, the Archon released all of
the conscripted commercial freighters for a one-year period so
that they could run mercy missions to those worlds suffering the
most.
Before the cargo ships carrying grain and other supplies
could arrive, the planet Summit had rebelled over its lack of food
and the high taxes. Instead of helping quell the riots, the planetary
garrison, with its lance of ‘Mechs, joined the fight, and even led
attacks against government offices and military bases. The
Archon dispatched the 26th Lyran Guards to stamp out the
rebellion.
Archon Giovanni Steiner died in February of 2980.
As chairperson of the Tharkad Equestrian Society, he
was performing on his prized Tharkan-bred jumping
horse before a crowd of 100,000 that had gathered in
the Commonwealth Dome. When his horse made a
misstep just before a jump, the Archon was thrown
headlong into the thick wood planks of the fence. He
died soon after. Giovanni’s son Alessandro became the next
Archon.
ALESSANDRO STEINER
Extraordinary skill in any field that pits one man against
another-be it politics, military strategy, or even sports-can prove
an absolute disaster, especially when your opponent is not as
smart as you are.
—From Intelligence: An Informal Indictment, by Prof. T. B.
Hedges, Tharkad University Press, 3009
Alessandro Steiner proved to be the exact opposite of his
father. He cared little for how much things cost, nor did he care to
study the web of power within the Commonwealth government.
He craved action and so had spent much of his youth traveling
throughout the realm living a roguish life, even siring a few
children he later chose not to recognize. His career as a battalion
leader in the 2nd Royal Guards was cut short by his father’s
death, but not before he had distinguished himself by swift actions
and extraordinary tactical and strategic skills.
As Archon, Alessandro immediately improved the military
by increasing its helping of Commonwealth revenues, much to
the consternation of the common citizen. Most of this increase
went for the purchase of weapons and supplies. The Archon
also used the money to hire the Always Faithful, a regiment of
grizzled mercenaries in heavy ‘Mechs.
Alessandro’s first major military effort as ruler was the famous
‘Deep Raid’ of 2987. After carefully reviewing intelligence reports
on the Free Worlds League, the Archon realized that the recent
lull in fighting between House Marik and House Liao presented
a good opportunity for an attack. He correctly guessed that Marik
troops would likely be relaxed and vulnerable on the worlds
facing the Liao border. Together, the Archon and his Strategies
and Tactics Division began to marshal resources for the raid.
The prime target of the raid was the Marik ‘Mech factory
being built on the planet Ling, near the Capellan border. Chosen
for the raid were the 6th Lyran Guards, who had recently
distinguished themselves in several difficult missions.
Accompanying them would be the 54th Fighter Support Wing,
known in the LCAF as ‘The Ill Winds’. A heavy fighter unit, its
many Chippewa fighters had lately flown several dramatic raids
against enemy units during the battles for Rochelle.
The two units left the Commonwealth in 2987 and began
their journey deep into the Free Worlds League. In a JumpShip
disguised as a commercial freighter, they traveled a circuitous
route to their target. The tense voyage took them to a series of
unimportant worlds whose system defenses paid little attention
to the unmarked freighter that appeared at the jump point to
recharge, and then moved on. Two months after they had started,
the Steiner raiders appeared in the Ling system.
The Archon’s hunch proved correct. Because lack of action
had made the planetary defenses around Ling lazy, the Steiner
DropShips put the 6th Lyran Guards and the Ill Winds
unchallenged onto Ling. The Ill Winds struck first, knocking out
most of the planet’s fighter support and its communications. Then
the ‘Mechs of the 6th landed. With support from the fighters, they
totally destroyed the BattleMech factory, with only light
damage to themselves.
The mission was not over yet, however. The
commanding officer announced to an astonished group
of tired MechWarriors and fighter pilots that instead of
heading straight home, they would now attack the Marik
worlds of Park Place, Ryerson, Inan, Nathan, and Bordon.
The 6th Lyran Guards and the Ill Winds accomplished these
tasks, but not before suffering major losses. Ten months after
they set off, the Deep Raid ended when their JumpShip reentered
the Commonwealth.
The mission’s end signaled the beginning of a storm of
controversy in the high command. Many of the generals were
furious that the soldiers had been sent on a mission without an
inkling that the raid would include a half dozen worlds. Another
startling fact uncovered was that the commanding officer of the
mission, a whiz-kid from Strategies and Tactics, had no prior
combat experience. He had been appointed to command this
difficult mission by his friend, the Archon. Many of the senior
generals considered ‘The Deep Raid’ a foolish and dangerous
act that had succeeded purely by chance.
The high command’s trust in the Archon plummeted, but
there was little they could do at the moment because the Lyrans
regarded the mission as a great victory.
REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES (continued)
1st Lyran Regulars: ‘The Boomers’
Formerly a mercenary regiment, this unit joined the
Commonwealth military in exchange for lands and titles for
its members.
3rd Lyran Regulars: ‘The Bee Squishers’
The unit earned its name after battling a regiment of
Kurita jump infantry.
4th Lyran Regulars: ‘Tropic Lightning’
5th Lyran Regulars: ‘The Ferris Wolverines’
Another former mercenary group, this unit was forced
into the LCAF after ComStar ruled against them in a contract
dispute, saying they had to pay their debts to the
Commonwealth.
6th Lyran Regulars: ‘Mad Hatters’
7th Lyran Regulars: ‘New Delhi Lancers’
9th Lyran Regulars: ‘Karilon Magicians’
10th Lyran Regulars: ‘The Stinging Barflies’
This unit got its nickname because of its reputation for
hard drinking.
11th Lyran Regulars: ‘The Hammers’
15th Lyran Regulars: ‘The Bully Boys’
HESPERUS REVISITED
In some ways, such an inviting target is an advantage.
Whenever someone reaches out an arm to try and snatch
it, we can come along to amputate it.
—From Radical Strategies: The Use of the
Diminishing BattleMech Force on Today’s Battlefield,
by Alessandro Steiner, Commonwealth Historical
Press, 3005
By 2997, exhaustion was again settling over the
Commonwealth. The Third Succession War had been going on
for an incredible 131 years. The effort to sustain the
Commonwealth’s offensive against House Kurita was particularly
draining to both the resources and stamina of the entire realm.
Operation Freedom, started some 84 years previously, had had
its successes. Worlds like Baxter, La Blon, Lyons, and Skondia
had been wrested away, but only after the longest, most resourceconsuming of campaigns.
Seeing the exhaustion of their men, the Steiner high
command decided to give the soldiers some rest by slowing
down the offensive against Kurita. When they suggested as much
to the Archon, he flatly refused, saying that the LCAF would
never push anything but forward as long as he was ruler of the
realm. Alessandro then laid out before them his plans for an
ambitious invasion of Kalidasa, a Marik world where were
located some important ‘Mech production facilities. The fact that
the operation would require three of the five regiments usually
reserved for defending the Commonwealth’s own vital ‘Mech
factories on Hesperus did not seem to bother the Archon.
Earlier that year, the tenth battle for Hesperus II had taken
place when elements of House Marik attacked an isolated supply
depot on the planet. The attack was thwarted by the 15th Lyran
Guards, commanded by Colonel Katrina Steiner, the Archon’s
niece. The 15th had boarded their DropShips near the factories
and launched into a sub-orbital flight. Colonel Steiner then had
her ‘Mechs execute a very dangerous shallow drop onto the
enemy. The difficult maneuver was successful, allowing the 15th
Lyran Guards to rout the smaller Marik force easily.
Archon Alessandro interpreted this recent victory to mean
that Hesperus II would not be attacked again any time soon.
Therefore, he could, in good conscience, send the three
Hesperus regiments to join the attack on Kalidasa. Besides,
Mercenary Profiles
Unit Name: Richard’s Panzer Brigade
CO: Colonel Richard ‘Big Daddy’ Whitman
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: No DropShip: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: January 3027
wasn’t he sending the 21st Striker Regiment and two
other battalions from the elite Eridani Light Horse to cover
for the absent defenders?
As optimistic and sensible as this may have seemed,
it did not work out that way. While the Archon’s offensive
was bogged down on Kalidasa, Marik scout companies
dropped onto Hesperus II. Forced to obey an
incompetent Commonwealth colonel, the Eridani Light Horse
units had to chase these scout ‘Mechs all over the planet while
the Marik scouts relayed the good news that Hesperus was
under-defended. House Marik decided to pounce.
Within weeks, House Marik had landed four ‘Mech
regiments on the planet. Luckily for the Commonwealth, the
commanding officer of the 21st Striker Regiment purposely
disobeyed the ranking Commonwealth officer’s orders. Instead
of marching into the teeth of the advancing Marik force, the Light
Horse chose to deploy itself in the mountains. In a classic use of
terrain and mixed weaponry, the Eridani units crushed the Marik
attackers in the narrow valleys leading to the ‘Mech factories.
The attack shook the Steiner high command, who realized
how close they had come to losing the entire BattleMech facility.
No matter how they tried to persuade the Archon that the effort
on Kalidasa was endangering the Commonwealth, their
warnings fell on deaf ears.
With her regiment sitting stalemated on Kalidasa, Katrina
Steiner was livid when she heard that Hesperus had almost
been lost. To her, it was obvious that the Kalidasa offensive was
a failure that could become a disaster if not abandoned soon. A
year and a half later, nothing had changed and the Steiner forces
were still mired on Kalidasa. After years of combat, the
Commonwealth troops had not even seen the Marik ‘Mech
facilities yet. Morale was crumbling as a growing number of
soldiers decided that the Archon was just too mule-headed to
face facts and withdraw.
In the first few days of the new millennium, House Kurita
attacked Hesperus II with three ‘Mech regiments and support,
quickly outmaneuvering the Commonwealth defenders. It was
left to the 1st Support Company of the Eridani Light Horse to
hold open a spaceport while challenging the advancing enemy
so that the Steiner House regiments could catch up and take
part in the factories’ defense. Though the attackers were pushed
offworld, the political repercussions were many.
Unit Profile:
Richard’s Panzer Brigade is the Lyran Commonwealth’s
most recently acquired mercenary unit. Formerly a ‘Mech
regiment in the army of House Davion, the Panzer Brigade
went mercenary when the unit’s original commander, Richard
DeCord, was discovered dealing drugs early in the third war.
Since then, the unit has served in all the other Successor
States, most recently with the Draconis Combine.
The unit has gained a reputation as a rather unsavory
bunch. The unit’s current commander, Richard ‘Big Daddy’
Whitman, is trying to clean up the Brigade’s act so that they
might find a semi-permanent home. Big Daddy likes their
current assignment on Tharkad, where duty is mostly guard
and ceremonial duty, with only an occasional raid. Big Daddy
is rather enamored with Melissa Steiner, a fact that has not
gone unnoticed by the rest of the unit.
The commanders of the Eridani Light Horse could
no longer stand the general incompetence of the Steiner
officers, which had cost them so much in lost lives and
equipment. This elite unit therefore chose not to
renegotiate with the Lyran Commonwealth when its
contract expired in late 3000. Many watched with sadness
as the unit packed up and left for the Federated Suns.
THE POLICY OF CONCENTRATED WEAKNESS
Concentrated Weakness? What manner of gobbledygook
is this? Concentrated foolishness is what it really is.
—Representative Iona Gelva, quoted in Government
House Transcripts: Year 3002, Government House Press,
3002
Archon Alessandro found himself in a difficult position.
Though he did a good bit of political arm-twisting among the
generals and nobility opposed to his military policies, the
departure of the Eridani Light Horse made a vivid impression
because they did not conceal their reasons for leaving. After
hearing the Eridani’s accounts of incompetence in the LCAF, the
media began uncovering the whole chain of events that had led
up to their ultimate decision to leave House Steiner. Public
opinion was quickly shifting from full support of the Archonwhom the Lyrans had once considered a military messiah-to
open criticism both of him and his policies. Even after the Archon
hired the Hsien Hotheads and Mobile Fire, two mercenary units
patterned after the Eridani Light Horse, it did little to quell the
rising furor.
Increasingly concerned about the political unrest, Archon
Alessandro began to search for a means to divert the public’s
criticism away from him. No one is sure what prompted him to
believe that another military campaign would solve his problems.
He later declined all interviews with officials from ComStar, and
the few interviews he has given Thelos Auburn have shed little
light on what motivated his decisions. While the reasons for his
strategy of ‘Concentrated Weakness’ remain a mystery, the results
of his plan are not. By now, everyone knows that they toppled
the Archon.
In 3002, Alessandro outlined his plan of Concentrated
Weakness to the high command and a select group of noblemen
and representatives. Though the meeting was secret, transcripts
Unit Name: Gregg’s Long Striders
CO: Colonel Gregg Car
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Green
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: No Infantry: Yes DropShip: No JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: December 3026
Unit Profile:
Gregg’s Long Striders is a new mercenary group. Colonel
Gregg Car was a member of the famed Wolf’s Dragoons until
he got tired of taking orders from someone else. After leaving
the Dragoons in late 3022, Car formed his own mercenary
unit from other disgruntled MechWarriors encountered in the
Mercenary Guild halls in the Tamar Pact. The Long Striders
have yet to see major action.
later obtained showed that there were serious objections
to the plan. The Archon would not budge, however. He
had already begun ordering the garrisons of worlds in
the interior of the Commonwealth to move to the Marik
front. These garrisons would be organized into Citizens’
Regiments, which would free the more experienced
regiments to effectively defend the region. They would
also take part in an ambitious offensive against the Free Worlds
League to begin a few years later. Meanwhile, new garrisons
would be trained on the interior worlds, with shipments of
weapons from the LCAF’s reserves to arm them.
Though Concentrated Weakness was essentially a
reworking of a plan used in the second war by Archon Marcus,
there are several major differences between the two operations.
The most important of these was its timing. Archon Marcus
enacted his plan at the beginning of the second war, when the
supplies were adequate and the public had trust in the
government. Archon Alessandro’s plan, on the other hand, would
be carried out against the background of a realm suffering
emotionally and materially from a century of continuous war.
What Alessandro Steiner did not seem to realize was that the
removal of planetary garrisons encouraged political upheavals
on those worlds. Many of the worlds in the Periphery simply
revolted once their garrison had left. They were angry over a
chronic lack of food supplies, lack of clean water, and the loss of
so many able-bodied men and women. They were also enraged
when the Steiner government saw to it that arms and equipment
for the new garrisons arrived promptly while shipments for the
planet’s food and medical supplies were continually delayed.
Only those worlds under the protection of the Little Kingdoms
escaped the political firestorm. Archon Alessandro remained
firm even when his advisors pointed out that the plan may have
created extra manpower, but that those troops were busy
suppressing riots in the interior instead of fighting on the Marik
border.
When the rioting began to die down over the next two years,
some political leaders began to believe that the Archon’s plan
might have some merit after all. The abortive raids by House
Marik against Solaris and Loric seemed to prove Alessandro’s
point about more ‘Mechs deterring the enemy on border worlds.
OUSTER
THE DISAPPEARING STEINER
Apparently Katrina Steiner was not silent during this
supposedly good time for the Archon’s strategy. Now
transferred to the Strategies and Tactics Division of the military,
she was well aware of the LCAF’s reservations about the
Archon’s military policy.
An ambitious woman, Katrina Steiner gathered together
the senior officers most vocal in their disagreements with the
Archon to create a core of officers who regarded her as their
leader. She then intimated to her supporters that she wished
to become the next Archon, even if it meant deposing her
uncle.
The next year, Katrina Steiner disappeared while on
Poulsbo. Many have speculated that this was the work of
Alessandro, in retaliation for her efforts to seek power. This
may be, but there are so many unanswered questions about
her mysterious disappearance that it is difficult to blame the
Archon automatically. More important is that she finally did
reappear just before the disastrous raids that crumbled the
Archon’s policy. By that time, her support had swelled
tremendously, fueled by rumors that the Archon might have
been responsible for her absence.
—From Encyclopedia Res Publica, Thelos Auburn, ed.,
Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
Unit Name: Knights of St. Cameron
CO: General Stan Gluck
Unit Size: 2 regiments
Experience Level: Green
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: No Infantry: No DropShips: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: December 3027
Even among us Steiners, there comes a time when
cold-blooded practicality must outweigh even family
loyalty. My uncle has proven his inability to rule. As his
niece, I grieve for his disappointment. But I will not let my
emotions stand in the way of what I feel is right. I am
Archon now,. that is what I feel is right for me. More importantly,
that is what I feel is right for Commonwealth.
—Archon Katrina Steiner’s announcement of Archon
Alessandro’s ‘retirement’, from Royal Court Transcripts: Year
3007, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3007
In 3006, House Marik made a shambles of Archon
Alessandro’s policy of Concentrated Weakness. Taking a page
from the Archon’s own book of strategies, the Free Worlds League
started several of their own ‘deep raids’ into the Commonwealth,
hitting Bolan, Pollux, Coventry, and several other worlds in rapid
succession. Because these worlds had been stripped of most
their defenses except for poorly trained garrisons of old men
and children, House Marik’s seasoned soldiers nearly destroyed
the military industries there.
It was the news of these catastrophes that persuaded
General Katrina Steiner to announce her intention to become
the next Archon openly. She began currying favor with those few
generals still loyal to the now disgraced Alessandro. Katrina
somehow managed to extract the promise that they would remain
out of the coming political struggle.
Before the Archon could deal with his uppity niece and her
treasonous declaration, he received a summons to appear before
the Estates General. Fearing nothing from a roomful of
politicians, the Archon arrived before the Representatives. In a
lengthy debate that quickly became more like a shouting match,
Archon Alessandro defended his military policies. The
Representatives, especially those whose worlds had suffered
from his grandiose military schemes, repeatedly shouted him
down.
In one of those amazing moments of history when a group
of varied individuals suddenly become of one mind, the
Representatives unanimously voted in favor of a petition of no
confidence in Alessandro Steiner. Though they had no real power
to protect themselves from the Archon’s wrath, the courageous
Unit Profile:
Formed in 2956, the Knights of St. Cameron are an oddity
among the many mercenary units of the Inner Sphere because
of their high moral standards. Martin Gluck, a retired
MechWarrior from the LCAF, sought out men and women
whose ancestors had been in the Regular Army of the Star
League to create a unit that would participate in “the struggle
between good and evil, in which the knight is always the
Lord’s first defense”.
Though many thought Gluck was crazy, in the end he
drew together MechWarriors of various ages and social
classes and taught them everything he knew about piloting a
‘Mech. Since then, the unit has grown to two regiments. In true
chivalrous fashion, the Knights often perform freelance jobs,
such as defending a poor Periphery world, for little or no extra
pay. It is for this reason that their ‘Mechs and their financial
condition are in such poor shape.
Representatives went so far as to boo and heckle
the Archon from the assembly. Leaving Government
House in a rage, Alessandro was already pondering what
form his revenge upon the Estates General would take.
A delegation from the high command met the Archon
on the marble steps of Government House. These
generals and noble-born members of the military were
supporters of Katrina Steiner. Having just witnessed the Archon’s
meeting with the Estates General, the delegation attempted to
reason with him, pointing out that he no longer had the support
of either the public or the high command itself. They suggested
that, for the good of the Commonwealth, he should step down.
Stunned, Alessandro asked for a few days to think. He used
the time in an effort to drum up support, only to find that the
generals were right-he simply no longer had any support. On
July 22, 3007, Archon Alessandro Steiner ‘retired’ in favor of
Katrina Steiner as the new Archon.
CURRENT EVENTS
The good thing about history is that it usually passes
its judgments long after their subjects are dead.
—Archon Katrina Steiner, from Royal Court
Transcripts: Year 3009, Commonwealth Historical
Press, 3009
Katrina Steiner is a woman of regal bearing whose intellect
is as highly refined as her beauty. What’s more, many consider
that she bears an uncanny resemblance to Katherine Marsden
Steiner. Immediately after assuming the Archonship, Katrina
Steiner revoked the policy of Concentrated Weakness, returning
all garrisons to their planets and the rest of the military to a more
defensive posture. To ease the unrest in the interior, the new
Archon diverted food and other supplies originally intended for
the military to those planets hit hardest by shortages.
Her main concern for the next few months was to give the
Commonwealth a brief respite from heavy fighting. She decided
that the best way to accomplish this was to keep her enemies
off-balance and uncertain with a series of raids against enemy
supply points. Mobile units like the Hsien Hotheads, Mobile Fire,
Cranston Snord’s Irregulars, and Winfield’s Guards conducted
many raids during this period, especially against Kurita units on
Sevren, a world that Katrina Steiner wanted back.
Winfield’s Guards had been created by Alessandro Steiner.
It was a two-regiment unit named after the former commander of
the Stealths, and patterned after that unit and what the LCAF
had learned from the Eridani Light Horse. The unit’s commanding
officers were descendants of the members of the famed Stealths.
A mixed weapons unit, its ‘Mechs were usually of medium weight
and high mobility. It quickly became the premier unit of the LCAF.
When House Kurita made a stand to hold Sevren in 3011, it
nearly destroyed Winfield’s Guards. Thinking that they had
discovered a weakness in the enemy’s lines, the 2nd Regiment
of Winfield’s Guards broke through and poured into a
mountainous region in the enemy’s rear. They were promptly
engaged by an assault ‘Mech battalion in prepared positions on
a mountain slope. Air attacks by Kurita AeroSpace Fighters
bombed and
Unit Name: Dragon’s Breath
CO: Colonel Pete Tate
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Light
Armor: Yes Infantry: No DropShips: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: May 3027
Unit Name: The Bad Dream
CO: Colonel William McPherson
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Heavy
Armor: Yes Infantry: No DropShips: Yes JumpShip: Yes
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: August 3026
Unit Name: Mobile Fire
CO: Colonel Quintin Moore
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Light
Fighter Weight: Heavy
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShips: No JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: August 3026
Unit Name: Grave Walkers
CO: Colonel Dennis Merwin
Unit Size: 2 regiments
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Heavy
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShips: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: December 3026
strafed the Guards. Seeing no way to win, the
commander of the 2nd Regiment ordered a retreat, only
to find the way blocked by another Kurita assault ‘Mech
battalion backed by a tank unit. Little of the 2nd regiment
survived this encounter. The remainder of Winfield’s
Guards were withdrawn from Sevren and later
reorganized as the two-battalion unit known today as
Winfield’s Brigade.
While the military units of the Commonwealth were either
resting or participating in contests for worlds at an almost leisurely
pace, it was the mercenary units that were now making news.
One of these newsworthy events involved the strain in relations
between the 12th Star Guards and the Commonwealth. The
Mercenary Liaison officer to the Star Guards had been secretly
embezzling funds intended for the mercenary unit’s pay. Though
the man was later punished by the LCAF, the Star Guards were
still angry enough to leave House Steiner to work for the
Federated Suns in 3013.
To cover the loss of the 12th Star Guards, the Commonwealth
began shopping for other mercenaries to take their place. In
3016, the Commonwealth hired Miller’s Marauders, and two
years later, Hansen’s Roughriders. Both are heavy ‘Mech units
that quickly became darlings of the Commonwealth media
because their zest for pitched battles was so unusual among
mercenary units.
In 3019, the 13th battle for Hesperus II occurred. This time,
the attackers were the famed Wolfs Dragoons under contract to
the Free Worlds League. As Wolf’s plan of attack had been leaked
to the Steiner high command, the Lyrans were ready with four
‘Mech regiments to greet Jaime Wolf and his MechWarriors.
Despite the fact that the Dragoons were outnumbered more
than two to one and were fighting on unfamiliar terrain, they
made an excellent fight of it. They killed many of the Steiner
defenders and put a scare into the rest by fighting their way very
close to the Hesperus Mech factories before being pushed
offplanet. So impressed was Katrina Steiner with their skills that
she offered Wolf’s Dragoons a contract, which they accepted in
3020.
Unit Name: Always Faithful
CO: Colonel Louise Pound
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: No Infantry: Yes DropShips: No JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: November 3026
Unit Name: The Filthy Lucre
CO: Colonel Ashley Timson
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Light
Armor: No Infantry: No DropShips: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: July 3027
3020 was also the year that Archon Katrina Steiner
issued her ‘Peace Proposal’ to the other Successor States.
Even though her proposals were nothing more than a
glorified attempt at a cease-fire on her terms, the
eagerness with which Hanse Davion entered into a
dialogue with Katrina Steiner surprised even the
members of the esteemed First Circuit.
To impress House Davion with the strength of her military,
the Archon revived the long-dormant Operation Freedom.
Bolstered by the five regiments of the Wolf’s Dragoons, she
aimed her efforts once more against House Kurita. News of
battles such as the Black Widows’ efforts in Harlow Woods and
the successful heavy raid against the Kurita world of Dromini VI
aided the Archon’s delicate negotiations with House Davion.
After 16 months of secret negotiations between the two
Houses, the talks came to fruition in 3022. In a secret ceremony
on Terra the two powers signed a peace and alliance treaty,
which was witnessed by the exalted First Circuit. The terms of
this treaty range from the free exchange of ‘Mech designs to
allowing students from the Commonwealth to enroll in the
prestigious NAIS. Perhaps the most important effect of this
alliance has been the exchange of military intelligence and the
coordination of their attacks against the common enemy-the
Draconis Combine.
With access to the combined Steiner-Davion intelligence
on the Kurita military’s disposition and the likely whereabouts of
almost every Kurita ‘Mech regiment, the Commonwealth has
taken a slight edge over the Combine in recent years. With the
help of this new information, the Steiner offensive achieved its
first major victory with the recapture of Carse. The LCAF also
won back Port Moseby at this time.
In 3022, Wolf’s Dragoons left House Steiner to work for
Lord Kurita in the Combine. In the same year, the Waco Rangers,
a mercenary regiment with good skills, signed on with the
Commonwealth.
The most recent Commonwealth offensive won back the
heavily industrialized world of Sevren in July 3024. The planet
had been kept in reasonably good condition since House Kurita
took the planet in 2910, making it an important prize. Defending
Unit Name: Cranston Snord’s Irregulars
CO: Hauptmann Cranston Snord
Unit Size: 1 company
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: None
Armor: No Infantry: No DropShip: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: July 3026
the planet was a garrison of three ‘Mech regiments,
including the elite Dieron Regulars. These had been
slowly overcoming the Commonwealth troops fighting to
retake the planet after the loss of Winfield’s Guards.
Winfield’s Brigade, the 30th Lyran Guards, and
Hansen’s Roughriders dropped onto Sevren at points
strategically chosen to divide the enemy forces into
groups. In quick and decisive actions, they then proceeded to
force the Kurita defenders back. The hard-striking Winfield’s
Brigade proved to be the campaign’s deciding factor. With both
sides often evenly matched in battle, detachments from Winfield’s
Brigade were able to turn the tide of battle in the Commonwealth’s
favor on various occasions. In late December 3024, Sevren was
once again a Commonwealth world.
CONCLUSION
History. n. An account mostly false, of events mostly
unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly
knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
—From The Enlarged Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose
Bierce (1 906), quoted in the preface to History and
the Present.. The Current State of the Lyran Commonwealth,
by Thelos Auburn, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3025
The fortunes of the Lyran Commonwealth have taken a
positive turn of late, including a number of good omens such as
the return of the 12th Star Guards in late 3024.
The advantages of the Commonwealth’s Alliance with the
Federated Suns have more than made up for the few political
upheavals instigated by die-hard patriots such as Duke Frederick
Steiner. As for the possible ramifications of the recent invasion
of the ComStar transmitter station on Poulsbo or the assassination
of Graf Yollers in the Royal Palace, I leave those speculations to
political commentators.
What should be clear from this history of the Commonwealth
is that it shows much more potential than anyone has assumed
till now. This includes not only its massive industrial base, but
also its military, its political system, and its people. If the untapped
potential of all these is properly coaxed forth, it will bring either
a resurgence of good times or raise the specter of a new and
more violent round of warfare. Much depends on this Successor
State.
Unit Name: Hansen’s Roughriders
CO: Colonel Gerhardt Hansen
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Heavy
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: April 3027
Unit Name: Barrett’s Fusiliers
CO: Colonel Alonzo Barrett
Unit Size: 1 battalion
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Heavy
Fighter Weight: Heavy
Armor: No Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: April 3026
Unit Name: Waco Rangers
CO: Colonel Wayne Waco
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Veteran
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: No
Financial Situation: Good
Contract Expires: January 3027
Unit Name: Hsien Hotheads
CO: Colonel Patricia Morgan
Unit Size: 1 regiment
Experience Level: Regular
‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: Yes
Financial Situation: In debt
Contract Expires: November 3077
—From A Guidebook to the Mercenary Units Currently
Active in the Inner Sphere: Year 3025, Gen. Uston
Fitzwater, ed., ComStar Printers, 3025
SOCIOPOLITICAL
STRUCTURE
The government of the Lyran Commonwealth is a stable
and remarkably representative government. Its stability is
inherent in the strong Steiner monarchy, which has also been
wise enough to allow at least the airing of viewpoints other than
its own. In this war-torn era, the flexibility of the Lyran government
is nothing short of remarkable.
Despite the apparent dedication to open debate, the
atmosphere of the court and other Lyran powers-that-be is as
thick with political intrigues and plots as any other in the Inner
Sphere. A wit from Tharkad once remarked that while open
debate might be the soaring of a Lyran leader’s soul, it never
stopped the same leader from rolling in the political mud like a
lowly mire-eagle. Like battling brothers, however, Lyran politicos
and noblemen will put aside their differences to present a united
front against any threat from beyond their borders. When the
danger is over, everybody knows it will not be long before the
political mudslinging and scheming start up again.
The planet Tharkad is the capital of the Lyran
Commonwealth and Tharkad City is the official home of both the
ruling family and the rest of his government. The Royal Palace,
the Royal Court, and Government House are the three major
buildings, known as the Triad because they fit together in a
triangular shape.
THE ARCHONSHIP
Taking an example from the ancient Athenians, the original
architects of the Lyran Commonwealth created a committee of
nine Archons to set policy for the newly founded union of three
defense pacts. The difficulties of distance and the low moral
caliber of the original nine Archons soon made this arrangement
about as practical as a ‘Mech with three legs.
In 2375, with the Commonwealth on the verge of dissolution
and the neighboring Draconis Combine flexing its military might,
Archon Robert Marsden took matters into his own hands by
winning support of the military and then publicly stripping the
other Archons of their power. With the announcement of important
governmental changes such as the formation of a parliamentary
Estates General, Marsden soon had enough popular support to
become sole Archon in 2376.
As in any state, the ultimate power behind the Archon is the
military. The Articles of Acceptance, the document that defined
the new government, named the Archon as Commander-inChief of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces (LCAF) and
gave him authority over any other private troops as well. Prior to
becoming First Archon, Robert Marsden had served in both the
LCAF and in the Terran Hegemony’s armed forces. Because he
was so aware of the importance of support from the military, he
made sure that all his sons and daughters served as officers in
the LCAF. Since that time, many Archons have been military
commanders of great skill and poise, and very few have lacked
at least the rudiments of military training.
Though many Lyran noblemen currently have their own
troops, some of which are quite skilled, most ‘Mech regiments
maintain their ties to the Archon. This loyalty has been further
strengthened by Katrina Steiner’s skillfulness as a former ‘Mech
regiment commander. Her prowess on the battlefield, along with
her fairness in dealing with her men, has earned the Archon the
unquestioned loyalty of all but a dozen of the Commonwealth’s
75 ‘Mech regiments.
While the military represented the clenched fist of the
Archon, it was the Commonwealth Scout Corps that stood for
the open-handed generosity of the early Archons. The Scout
Corps were those hardy souls who traveled the lonely reaches
of space, mapping out the Lyran Commonwealth and discovering
many previously uncharted planets. Sometimes the Archon chose
to personally exploit a new world to further build up his own vast
fortune. More often, he used these worlds to reward loyalty or a
special service. The new planetary owners became part of a
burgeoning aristocracy that was, for the most part, extremely
loyal to the Archon.
After the start of the Succession Wars, the Archons no longer
gave away planets, but bestowed monetary grants, titles, jobs,
and even marriages to their followers. This policy holds true to
this day, and such favors are coveted by many an ambitious
young politician, industrialist, or adventurer. Making such gifts
may have reduced the overall wealth of the Archon, but they
have cemented the ruler’s ties with his subjects, ensuring that
the Archon remains at the center of political power.
One of the Archon’s special powers is the right to enforce
his will without consulting the Estates General or even his
Commonwealth Council. Though this prerogative has been
invoked many times throughout the Commonwealth’s history,
recent Archons have taken to informing the Estates General of
their intentions, both to soothe political egos and to gain insight
into how the policies will be received by the larger public.
In 2407, Alistair Marsden invoked this power when he moved
the capital of the Lyran Commonwealth from Arcturus to his
homeworld of Tharkad. Because the military of the Draconis
Combine was pushing its way toward Arcturus at the time, there
was no objection to the move. In 2623, Kevin Steiner attempted
to use his absolute power as monarch to keep the currency of
the Lyran Commonwealth separate from the universal currency
proposed by the Star League. Fearing that this would isolate the
Commonwealth economically, 80 percent of all Lyran businesses
shut down for a week to protest the Archon’s decision. Two days
later, Kevin Steiner rescinded the order.
In general, the Archon’s use of his absolute power is
acceptable to the Lyrans in times when swift action is necessary,
such as mustering the military in preparation for an expected
enemy attack. To avoid problems in times of less emergency, the
Archon usually sends his proposals down to the Commonwealth
Council and then on to the Estates General
for general discussion and opinions. The Estates
General often requests that the ruler take part in the
debate about his proposition. The Archon may or may
not appear, depending on the urgency of the bill and
whether he dares confront more than 300 delegates.
Based on how much passionate debate greets the bill in
Government House, the Archon can gauge how it will be
received throughout the realm. He may sometimes alter the
proposed bill to make it more palatable. The Archon is not obliged
to do so, however, because allowing the Estates General to
comment on the bill before he signs it into law is really only a
courtesy.
In 2643, Archon Kevin Steiner again appeared before the
assembled Representatives in the Estates General. It had been
20 years since the currency debacle had provoked the long
strike. Now Steiner faced an even graver crisis. Times had been
so good that many now believed that the general prosperity had
removed the cause of war and thus the need for a
Commonwealth, with its large and expensive military. Even the
powerful Archon would find it difficult to hold together the entire
Commonwealth if the Estates General decided to dissolve it.
In reaction, the Archon submitted a bill that publicly
reaffirmed the Commonwealth. As expected, he was immediately
asked to come down to the Estates Chamber to defend his
position. In a brilliant, impassioned six-hour debate, Kevin Steiner
sought to convince the majority of Representatives that the strong
central government contributed much more to the
Commonwealth member-worlds than just protection. One by
one, he listed the many benefits that Commonwealth membership
gave to each world; from fair laws to economic equality, from
generous disaster aid to the sharing of resources. At the end of
the debate, a vote was taken, which resulted in a reaffirmation of
the Commonwealth by a 161-160 margin. The Representative
from distant Chahar cast the deciding vote, later remarking that,
in his heart, he felt more a Lyran than a Chaharan.
The Archon scrutinizes everything that the Estates General
requests and is vigorous in vetoing any proposal detrimental to
the common good. This right of veto, while often invoked, serves
best as a threat to warn the Representatives that the proposed
bill needs substantial alteration before he will pass on it. On the
rare occasions that the Estates General has willingly challenged
the Archon’s veto, it was always over a deeply felt issue.
Much is made of the Archon’s political clout, but he wields
economic power, too. Though the Steiners managed to
personally take ownership over many worlds early in the
Commonwealth’s history, that number has now dwindled to
Gallery, Furillo, Porrima, and Duran, the four worlds lying nearest
to Tharkad. This has not diminished the Steiner family’s power,
however, for they have major landholdings on over 200 worlds,
and hold controlling shares in over 50 major Lyran industries.
THE COMMONWEALTH COUNCIL
It was Katherine Marsden Steiner who created this
council of advisors. After the death of her husband, the
former Archon, there were other pretenders to power. A
group of state leaders from the Federation of Skye and
the Tamar Pact came to Katherine Steiner with a polite
‘request’ for a greater share in the running of the Commonwealth.
In exchange, they vowed to support her claim to the Archonship
against Timothy Marsden, a distant uncle of the late Alistair
Marsden, and others seeking the Archonship.
Katherine Steiner shrewdly agreed, and with their aid,
became the founder of the Steiner dynasty. One of her first acts
as Archon was to reward the Dukes of Tamar and Skye by
forming the Commonwealth Council, whose advisory role gave
it a vital part in running the Commonwealth. Since that time, the
Council has become the unofficial liaison between the Archon
and the Estates General. It also performs many of the mundane
but important tasks that the Archon prefers to delegate.
Eight advisors to the Archon make up the Commonwealth
Council. They include the leaders of the Tamar Pact and the
Federation of Skye, the Commander of the LCAF and
Chancellors of the five major divisions within the government.
These Chancellors represent the Departments of Finance,
Internal Policies, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Lyran
Intelligence Corps and the Chancellor of the Peoples. Though
the Archon is supposed to appoint the Chancellors for their skill
and not for their titles or family connections, the Chancellor of
the Peoples is chosen by the Estates General and is usually a
respected elder Representative. He represents the Estates
General’s point of view on issues that come before the Council
and so maintains close ties with that parliamentary body.
The Commonwealth Council reviews almost all legislation
that the Estates General proposes. Their recommendation or
critique of the bill can result in its being passed on to the Archon
for his signature or to it being summarily returned to the
Representatives. This has come to be known as “bleeding the
bill”. Only legislation with enough blood left after the Council is
through with it will make it all the way to the Archon. The process
does work in reverse, too, with the Archon passing his request
to the Council. They will either hand it back or pass it on to the
Estates General for discussion. Again, the Archon does this out
of courtesy and political expediency, not obligation. The whole
procedure makes both the Council and the Estates General feel
a vital part of the government.
In the long history of the Council, its power has waxed and
waned. From its birth as a way station for legislation, the Council’s
influence quickly grew. Indeed, the Council reached the height
of power during the First Succession War when it virtually ran
the Commonwealth, freeing the Archons to concentrate their
attention on defending the realm from the advancing forces of
Lord Kurita. At present, the Council still has the power to make
its own independent suggestions for legislation, which they
submit to both the Archon and the Estates General for approval.
It is politically safer for the Council to confine itself to commenting
on the various bits of legislation that pass through its chambers,
however, and so they write very few bills of their own.
Since 2812, when Archon Richard Steiner sought
to pack the Council with relatives, there has been a rule
forbidding more than one member of the Steiner family
to hold a seat on the Council. In 2821, this rule was
updated to cover any family whatsoever after the
Reynolds family tried to elect their daughter to the post of
Chancellor of the Peoples and their son as Chancellor of
Finances.
One of the more important concessions that the Council
won from the Archon was the right to meet in his absence. Up till
the reign of Michael Steiner II, it could convene only if the Archon
were present. The council members and the Estates General
pointed out to the Archon that this tended to defeat the Council’s
purpose if he had to waste his time listening to them review
legislation. The Archon agreed and appointed the Chancellor of
the Peoples to act as his proxy when necessary.
The Estates General greeted this news with jubilation. Its
members felt that they could now influence the fate of their
proposed legislation because the Chancellor of the Peoples
was also a Representative. Much to their disappointment over
the years, the many Chancellors of the Peoples have proved
conscientious in their duties and little disposed to showing
favoritism.
The current members of the Commonwealth Council are
Selvin Kelswa, Duke of Tamar; Margaret Aten, Duchess of Skye;
Duke Edward Regis, Commanding General; Frederick Henson,
Chancellor of Finances; Gerald Huston, Chancellor of Internal
Policies; Cynthia Eddies, Chancellor of Foreign Affairs; Simon
Johnson, Chancellor of the Lyran Intelligence Corps; and Tyrell
Gibson, Chancellor of the Peoples.
THE ROYAL COURT
The term “Royal Court” refers to both a building and
to those times of the year when the Archon and his family
are officially in residence in Tharkad City. The term also
includes the many social events that the Archon sponsors
during these times. There are usually three sessions of
the Royal Court in a year. Each averages about two months,
with a month between sessions to allow the staff of the Royal
Household to prepare for the next round of meetings, parties,
and festivals. During the winter months, the Archon and his family
generally leave Tharkad City for a warmer climate.
The Royal Court takes place in the beautiful building that
makes up one third of the Triad. This building is an enormous
structure that includes the Throne Room, housing for visiting
nobles, grand ballrooms, and even an enclosed sports arena,
including pools and ball courts. There are also the famous Lyran
museums, which remain open to the public year ‘round. People
from throughout the Commonwealth arrive in Tharkad to attend
the Royal Court. Some come to petition the Archon or the
Commonwealth Council with a particular grievance or political
request. Indeed, a major portion of the Archon’s day is spent in
audience with such petitioners.
The majority of the events taking place in the Royal Courts
are of a more social nature, however. Enormous balls, sporting
events, concerts, art exhibitions, even demonstrations of new
military equipment come under that heading. The political
wheeling and dealing that permeates the air of Tharkad City is
never far beneath the surface of even these social functions.
Some say that more momentous decisions have been made on
the dance floor of the Grand Ballroom than in debate among the
Estates General.
The unspoken importance of these gatherings, plus the
great elegance of the people and surroundings, require a
veritable army of bureaucrats whose job it is to arrange and
coordinate the many comings and goings in the Royal Court.
This group is known as the Archon’s Entourage. Though
technically a division of the Civil Service, the Entourage is
controlled by the Archon’s spouse and acts independently of
the LCCS.
Much of the Entourage consists of young nobles whom the
Archon has appointed because they excel as scholars. An
appointment is a great honor for these youngsters and their
families. In recent years, the Steiner family has drawn especially
on young people from war-torn worlds, in recognition of their
plight and their courage. Extensively trained, the young nobles
of the Entourage often grow up to become important figures in
the LCCS, the Estates General, or the Commonwealth Council.
Most of the Royal Court’s events are not reserved solely for
the nobility. All the Representatives from the Estates General, as
well as the officers and soldiers of the military, are expected to
attend Court. Often, eminent scientists, noted scholars, and
leaders of industry give seminars or lectures in their field of
expertise. Artists, especially those who have traveled throughout
the realm and beyond, are also sought out.
The Royal Court of the Steiners does not show the opulent
decadence typical of most gatherings of the privileged, though
a few libertine societies do exist. The only taint to the dignity of
the Royal Court is the incessant political scheming and secrets
that range from a chambermaid hoping to advance herself to
the dangerous machinations of nobles attempting to oust an
elected official. Like all the Courts of the Successor States, the
one on Tharkad is no place for the socially timid or the politically
naive.
To protect themselves from the potentially dangerous
intrigues of the Royal Court, the Steiner family long ago
altered the Royal Throne Room. In 2529, Archon Craig
Steiner had the ornate, synth-marble ceilings raised and
the floors around the royal thrones strengthened. Workers
also installed huge doors on either side of the throne. All
was in readiness on October 23, the Archon’s birthday.
When all the guests had gathered for the celebration, Craig
Steiner stunned them by commanding that the two huge doors
be opened. Out marched two Griffin BattleMechs from the now
defunct 5th Royal Guards to stand at either side of the grinning
Archon on his throne. Since then, in addition to the normal
contingent of armed guards, it has become a tradition that two
Griffins from the Archon’s favorite unit stand guard in the Throne
Room.
NOBILITY
Among all the Successor States, the Lyran Commonwealth
maintains the most open system of nobility. Though most titles
are hereditary and passed down through the firstborn offspring,
the chances for a commoner to win a title are considerably
greater here than anywhere else. There is, in fact, such a plethora
of titled people in the Commonwealth that some critics say that
to be a commoner may be more of a distinction. In reply,
defenders of the system point out that the chance at nobility
gives many a commoner more motivation and more patriotism.
The titles of nobility tend to follow the ancient Germanic
forms. Remembering tales she had heard of her own ancestors,
it was Katherine Marsden Steiner who revived the terms
Margrave, Graf, Landgrave, and the use of “von” in connection
with a Baron’s name.
The title of Duke or Duchess is usually reserved for those
who have acquired, or are about to acquire, a controlling interest
in a planet(s). The wealth of that world determines the Duke’s
status among his peers because to be Duke of a prosperous
world like Coventry holds considerably more political power
than to be Duke of Halfway, a desolate hunk of rock.
The title of Duke is also awarded to industrial giants.
Because they control industries that affect the whole
Commonwealth, their power and influence often outstrip that of
Dukes of whole worlds. This is reinforced by the fact that it is
more prestigious to be an industrial Duke who can supply the
military with tools and equipment than to be the Duke of an
agricultural planet. It is not uncommon to see an uncourteous
bull of a man hold the rapt attention of the Royal Court because
he is the owner of a nuclear shielding industry and has been
made a Duke as a result of it.
Many a noble who has come by his title through landholding
often bristles with indignation when the owner of a corporation
on his property is given an equivalent title. Long and bitter legal
battles often occur because of the landowner’s belief that he
should get the recognition because the industrialist being
honored is occupying his land. The courts have sided with the
industrialist, however, stating that it is the skill of those who do
the work that makes industry valuable and not where the factory
happens to be located. The Archons continue to ennoble any of
their loyal subjects who have managed to significantly boost the
Lyran economy.
The use of the term “Margrave” is special. The title is
purely military and belongs to the commander of one of
the nine front-line military districts that extend along the
Commonwealth’s borders. As a Margrave, the officer
technically rules all the planets within these theaters of
Operations. He can rarely wield this power for nonmilitary purposes, however, and the title of Margrave
does not give the officer any political privileges. Often, an Archon
will bypass the normal political channels by using a Margrave’s
power as a military governor to impose certain laws and acts in
a purely unofficial manner.
The title of Margrave is a temporary one, because the title is
not transferred if the officer moves to another post or retires.
Instead, the next commander of the Theater receives the title. In
several instances, these generals have been so skillful and
daring in their military exploits that the title was bestowed
permanently. Even in these cases, the title does not pass on to a
deceased Margrave’s heir, though his children do retain a
baronage and may claim a place in the military academy.
The titles of “Landgrave” and “Graf” are given to large
landholders on a world or to the owners of large industries. A
Landgrave is an exceptionally powerful Graf. The Ducal owner
of the planet has some power to appoint those Grafs who will
serve under him. It is customary for the eldest offspring of a Duke
to receive a Grafship. The Archon also has the power to bestow
Grafships and often does so for political reasons. On those worlds
where the Archon is not particularly liked, he may appoint a Graf
to act on his behalf.
This has led to cases where the population of a planet
prefers a Graf over its Duke. Sometimes the tensions rise so
high that either the Graf or the Duke formally requests that the
Archon remove him from that world. There have even been
occasions, like the uprising on Lancaster, where the people
have murdered a despised Duke or risen in open revolt. In such
cases, the Archon usually lets events take their course. If the
unpopular Duke is a relative or close supporter, however, the
Archon will usually step in and rescue him.
Baronies are generally reserved for eminent citizens who
have distinguished themselves in their particular field, be it
military service, metallurgy, forestry, or playing the tinner-lute.
The title carries with it a monthly stipend and a small portion of
land on the recipient’s homeworld. Famous prizes, like the Dealby
Prize for the Advancement of the Sciences, or the Archon Award
for the Arts, also carry with them an automatic Barony.
The more prestigious medals and commendations given to
heroes from the military, such as the Steiner Medal of Honor, or
the Golden Fist, also bestow the honor of being addressed as a
‘Knight of the Commonwealth’. This title brings no land or
economic gain to the holder, but it does carry respect throughout
the Commonwealth.
THE ESTATES GENERAL
General-of-the-Armies Edward Regis, the ranking
general in the LCAF, is seen here in the formal clothing
worn by most higher-ranking politicians and diplomats at
Royal Court. The badge on his jacket represents the Order
of the Tamar Tigers. Regis is holding the McKennsey
Hammer, an award for his leadership of the 2nd Royal
Guards ‘Mech regiment.
The Estates General is the parliamentary body that
has advised the Archon throughout the 684 years of
Lyran Commonwealth history. From being merely a
rubber stamp for the earliest Archons, it has grown in
power, which culminated in the recent ouster of Archon
Alessandro Steiner.
In the early years, each planet within the Commonwealth
had the right to send a delegate, called a Representative, to the
Estates General. In time, the Commonwealth spanned so many
hundreds of inhabited worlds, moons, and man-made
environments that population requirements had to be enacted
in 2721 to keep the number of Representatives down to
manageable size. The rules also work to ensure that the
maximum number of populous and developed worlds are
represented.
No one whose title is higher than a Baron can become a
Representative to the Estates General. Its members believe that
the inclusion of higher nobility would cripple their proud role as
watchdog over the aristocracy. Nor would they accept anyone
who has been convicted of a major crime in the previous 15
years.
Each planetary government decides how to choose its
Representative, who will serve a six-year term and earn a
generous salary. To ensure the delegate’s integrity on financial
issues, he must place all his personal property in a blind trust
during his term of office, as well as live up to a high code of
ethics. Many a creative politician has managed to overcome
these efforts to keep him honest, however.
The Estates General also recognizes Representatives from
Lyran worlds that are currently under occupation by enemy forces.
These Representatives, known collectively as the Homeless,
are especially respected. Among the Homeless delegates, the
position has become hereditary, through the line of whomever
was Representative at the time of the world’s occupation. Many
of the Homeless Representatives reside in Tharkad City at the
Archon’s expense.
The Estates General meets every spring in Government
House, one of the buildings in the Triad complex on Tharkad. As
its sessions coincide with the Royal Court’s spring season, the
Triad and surrounding area become a veritable hive of activity,
at times congested to the point of chaos. The residents of Tharkad
City ruefully call these months the Spring Fevers. Though the
regular session of the Estates General is four months long, it
rarely lasts for less than five or six months.
In times of crisis, the Estates General has chosen to convene
closer to the scene of events, in order to get information more
directly and accurately. In 2901, for example, the Estates General
met on Great X to be nearer the ill-fated planet of Beta Regulus
II, where a cataclysm had literally disintegrated the world, killing
four million.
Three weeks prior to the convening of the Estates General,
the Steering Committee meets to set the itinerary for the coming
session. This group is composed of 20 of the elders among the
Representatives. These also tend to be the most powerful leaders
in the Estates General, who serve as heads of the various
committees and panels that meet when the entire assembly is
not in session.
The assembled Representatives vote one of these
powerful 20 to be Speaker of the Assembly for a term of
four sessions of the Estates General. The Speaker can
lose his position if not reetected by the constituents of his
homeworld or if his fellow Representatives take a vote of
no confidence. The Speaker’s duties include controlling
debate in the Grand Assembly, which is often like trying
to control 300 lions. He also meets regularly but informally with
the Archon to discuss issues of common concern. The current
Speaker of the Assembly is Tadd Winslow from the planet Hot
Springs in the Tamar Pact.
Though the Estates General was originally envisioned as
an advisory body with no real power, its role slowly changed. Its
members came to realize that though they had no legal mandate,
they did control the Commonwealth’s pursestrings. The nobility
does indeed own many major sources of income, but the common
folk control enough that they could throw a serious monkey
wrench into the economy if need be. The great Tax Reform
debate of 2575 and the Businessmen’s Strike of 2623 made this
perfectly clear to everyone, including the Archon. Since then,
the Estates General has steadily enlarged its powers.
One of the first actions of the confident new Estates General
was to debate and adopt its own version of the Commonwealth
budget for 2783. Until then, only the Archon and the
Commonwealth Council had the right to decide how to collect
and spend revenue. When the Estates General sent its budget
to the Archon, he quickly approved it, relieved to be free of the
tedious task. The Estates General continues to draw up its own
version of the yearly budget, submitting it to the Council for
discussion and modification.
Their success in the budget issue led the Estates General
to venture into all areas of policy-making. Indeed, so many of its
policies have been accepted by various Archons that many
Representatives now believe it is time for a constitutional
convention that would legally define its additional powers.
The Commonwealth Council reviews any legislation that
the Estates proposes to the Archon, about 50 percent of which
they send back as unacceptable. After the Estates General makes
modifications, they resubmit the bill. The Council generally
accepts most-of these revised measures and passes them on to
the Archon under the polite title, “An Opinion of the Estates
General”. Because the Archon now recognizes that the
Representatives have the power and popular support to
defy him, he usually signs their proposed legislation into
law. When he has a serious objection, he customarily
leaves the dirty work of rejection to the Council, where
he usually has the loyalty of at least half the members.
The failure of Archon Alessandro’s policy of
‘Concentrated Weakness’ along the Commonwealth’s border
with the Free Worlds League led to serious losses at Alarion,
Bolan, and Pollux in 3006. News of these losses was greeted by
a public outcry and set the stage for a crucial power struggle
between the Archon and the Estates. Riots soon broke out along
the Marik border, and there was more than one attempt to unseat
the Archon.
The Estates General Representatives were not ready to
call for the Archon’s resignation, however. In a fit of bravado,
Alessandro sought to imitate his ancestor Kevin Steiner by
submitting a bill that reaffirmed the Estates General’s support of
the Commonwealth. When he strode into the hall in full uniform
and tried to bully the Representatives into voting their continued
confidence in him, it enraged many of the Representatives. Led
by Kevin Flanagan, the Representative from Alarion, the
delegates tore into the Archon’s disastrous military strategy
during the next four hours. Alessandro must have yearned to
flee, but he stood and took his lumps with all the dignity he could
muster.
Finally, a new motion was heard on the floor of the Assembly.
It stated simply, “Do we, as Representatives of the loyal planets
of the Commonwealth, trust the competence of the current
Archon?” The vote was a resounding “No”, with the vote 162 to
143.
Shocked and humiliated, Alessandro Steiner left
Government House. Though he seriously considered disbanding
the Estates General, a group of generals and nobles persuaded
him that civil war was the last thing the Commonwealth needed
just then. Alessandro eventually agreed to step down gracefully
in favor of his niece Katrina.
For the first time in Lyran history, the Estates General had
managed to depose the monarch. Indeed, it is the only time a
sovereign leader of any of the Five Successor States was ever
peaceably removed from office.
PROVINCES
THE FEDERATION OF SKYE
The Federation of Skye is the industrial matrix of the
Lyran Commonwealth. Currently led by Ado Lestrade IV,
the Federation has always been the most independent
of the three founding members. With their heavy EnglishIrish-Scottish ancestry, most citizens of the Skye region tend to
view the Commonwealth government and Steiner rule as a
necessary evil. Indeed, this ambivalence has occasionally voiced
itself in riots and several open rebellions. Though it might seem
that the independent populace of the Skye region is a weak link
in the Commonwealth’s chain of strength, quite the opposite is
true. When other Successor House Lords have tried to win them
over with bribes or threats, the people of these worlds have
been so insulted that they fought to defend their own honor and
to protect the Commonwealth. If the Federation of Skye is the
hub of the Commonwealth, the Isle of Skye is the heart of the
Federation. It is a heavily industrialized world with a
predominantly Anglo-Irish population. These are among the most
insular people of the Commonwealth, and they rarely care about
issues that do not directly concern their own welfare. Some petty
corruption exists here, but it is only a minor problem.
The Rahnshire is the most heavily industrialized group of
planets in the Lyran Commonwealth. It is also has the heaviest
Oriental population in the realm. Politically, the Rahnshire shares
the insularity of the Isle of Skye, but will fight fanatically to protect
its own interests. Led by Endo, the ducal family of New Kyoto,
the Rahnshire is famous for both its warriors and its ferocious
corporate spirit. The heritage and innate pride of these people
make corruption a rare occurrence among either the politicians
or the nobility.
Virginia Shire is the poorest province of the three. These
worlds lie in the path of the frequent Kurita invasions and so
have suffered more than their share of war damage. Led by
Duke Edward James of Alexandria, Virginia Shire is politically
the most far-seeing. Where the other two provinces might balk at
rules that restrict their individual identities, the people of Virginia
Shire recognize that the security of each depends on the
combined strength of the many. As might be expected, corruption
becomes a common practice among the officials of these
somewhat ravaged worlds when fighting off an enemy is not an
immediate threat.
THE TAMAR PACT
In the many years of warfare, the Tamar Pact has
been reduced to almost half its original size by the
invading armies of the Draconis Combine. This definitely
colors the political outlook of the region, which is in
constant danger of further losses. Led by Selvin Kelswa
III, the ruling Kelswas want to regain both their wealth
and their former planetholdings. Because of this, they are vocal
opponents of the Steiner government, but their reasons differ
from those of the Lestrade family of Skye. After waiting a hundred
years to take back the planet Tamar, the Kelswas are convinced
that the Steiner family has no intention of trying to recover other
Tamar Pact worlds still held by Kurita. While the Lestrades are
concerned about the issue of sovereignty, the Kelswa family
does not question the validity of the Commonwealth or the benefits
it has given them. Their main objection is to the talks of peace
and alliance that the Steiner family has favored in recent years.
To the Kelswas, there will be no peace until they see the Tamar
Pact restored to its former size.
The Tamar Pact is divided into the provinces of the Tamar
Domains and Trellshire. The Tamar Domains is the more
industrialized of the two. Lying smack on the border with the
Draconis Combine, many of these planets have suffered severely
from the continual wars. The effort to rebuild, coupled with the
desire to reclaim lost worlds, makes the politicians from this
province especially vocal in their demands. Descendants of the
original Western European settlers of the region, the people of
the Tamar Domain support a strong and dominant
Commonwealth and Tamar Pact, but they are impatient with any
talk of peace or alliance unless the terms seem favorable to the
Tamar Domains. Due to the disruption of records and
bureaucracy during the wars, corruption is rife in this province,
though the LCCS and local agencies are making vigorous
attempts to clean things up. The worst of it centers on Dustball,
that famous den of questionable pleasures and forbidden
fantasies.
The province of Trellshire comprises the planets in and
around the beautiful and dangerous Dark Nebula. It, too, has
lost many of its worlds to the Draconis Combine. Being so far out
from Tharkad and so near the wilds of the Periphery, Trellshire
tends to take an independent stance in its politics, though its
people are strong supporters of the Commonwealth. They, too,
wish to recover the worlds they have lost to Kurita. Unlike the
people of the Tamar Domains, they also realize that open warfare
with the Draconis Combine would, at best, result in a pyrrhic
victory. Politics in this region are a strange but potent mixture of
scheming and frontier directness. The LIC has recruited many
operatives from Trellshire, who have later been assigned to
penetrate the Draconis Combine via the Periphery.
THE PROTECTORATE OF DONEGAL
The Protectorate of Donegal is the paradox of the
Lyran Commonwealth. Though it is the richest in
resources, it is economically the poorest of the three
founding members. Also, despite being the most sparsely
populated of the three regions, it has nevertheless
developed into a center of political power. Perhaps, this
sense of untapped potentials is what drives the average politician
from the Protectorate to far-reaching programs that look to the
future instead of the present. As home of the Steiner family and
Tharkad, the Protectorate is also the source of the strong winds
of diplomacy that brought about the recent alliance with House
Davion.
Of the four provinces that make up the Protectorate of
Donegal, Alarion Province is the largest. With its extensive
borders along the Free Worlds League and the Periphery, Alarion
has seen its fair share of war and destruction. The loose,
freewheeling style of its politicians is a result of the region’s
chronic under-population. Though these public officials show a
willingness to cut through red tape that makes them the bane of
the Civil Service, corruption is rare, except for the usual cases of
nepotism and petty bribery. The people of the Alarion border
worlds would like to further develop their region, and so they
favor cease-fire negotiations. They would vehemently oppose
any trade-off that compromised their defense, however.
The next largest province in the Protectorate is Coventry,
which shares many similarities with Alarion. It, too, is chronically
under-populated and the potentials of many of its worlds are
untapped. For the same reasons, Coventry politicians are just
as free-wheeling in their interpretation of their laws. Both the
Coventry and Alarion provinces have large percentages of
people whose heritage is Italian, German, and Eastern
European.
Coventry also includes a heavy concentration of
African and Black American descendants. Having
emigrated from Terra in the latter half of the 28th century,
these settlers made homes on the planets in and around
Hot Springs on the border with Trellshire. A sizable
Chinese population resides on Kwangchowwang. There
are also White South Africans, Australians, and
Auklanders scattered throughout Coventry Province. This
diversity sometimes creates internal political controversy, but
when it comes to outer affairs, the people of Coventry share
Alarion’s desire for negotiation and reconciliation with the
neighboring Successor States.
The smallest of the four Protectorate provinces, Bolar has
suffered the most from the Succession Wars. Because of its
close proximity to Rahnshire Province, the politics of Bolan has
been influenced by the subtle Oriental attitudes of its neighbor.
As in Rahnshire, the rare cases of corruption are attacked
vigorously. Having suffered so much at the hands of House Marik,
it is the most anti-peace of the Protectorate provinces. Its leaders
are adamantly opposed to any kind of negotiations between the
two states. Its loyalty to both the Lyran Commonwealth and
House Steiner have always been strong.
As the political and economic heart of the Lyran
Commonwealth, the District of Donegal is also the most
cosmopolitan of any province in the Commonwealth. Its political
leaders are usually the most skilled and sometimes so slick that
they easily take advantage of their unsophisticated brethren.
Despite the Steiner family’s vigilance, corruption and bribery
are widespread. Politicians of the District are as anxious to
accumulate wealth as they are to draft favorable legislation for
their constituents, and so a politician is as likely to be found
poring over stock market reports as the notes to some speech.
Though the District of Donegal has not suffered from the wars as
much as other provinces, it is a crossroads for travelers going to
and from Tharkad, Donegal, or Arcturus. This keeps its leaders
well-informed about the state of the whole Commonwealth, and
makes them diplomatic whenever the question of peace efforts
comes up.
THE COMMONWEALTH JUDICIARY
Though the Archon creates the laws that govern the
Commonwealth and the Estates General passes them
on to the public, the judiciary must see to it that the law is
implemented fairly and as intended. Each individual
planet in the realm has its own particular system of courts,
which usually culminates in a Planetary Supreme Court. Though
the planetary courts may interpret the letter of the law to suit their
world’s society and customs, they must not alter the spirit of the
law. If litigation arises, the planetary Supreme Court must be the
judge. When that does not satisfy the litigants, the case passes
on to the next higher court system of Provincial Supreme Courts.
In the Provincial Supreme Court, usually located in the
provincial capital, two separate groups of judges will hear a
case. The first group, the Societal Justices, rule on how a law
might affect the world in question, depending on whether the
law were changed or unchanged. Justices rule on the bare
legalities of the case. After that, the two groups deliberate together
to reach a final decision. If the complainant is still not satisfied, or
if the Judges split their decision, the case moves to the Supreme
Court of the Commonwealth, located on Donegal.
The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth was established
in 2543 when it became evident that the ten provincial courts
were fast diverging in their interpretation of the laws. The first
Chief Justice was Tracial Steiner. By striking down the
controversial tariff laws of her second cousin, the Archon Craig
Steiner, she quickly set the tone of the court as a strong and
independent body. Today, Henry Kelswa II is Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of the Commonwealth.
INTERNAL POLITICS AND POLICIES
The Articles of Acceptance define the Commonwealth’s
obligations to its member planets and theirs toward it. This
document is the foundation of the present form of the
Commonwealth, and was ratified in 2376 by a majority of
member-worlds. Though often amended through the centuries,
it remains the bedrock of all Lyran laws.
The Articles guarantee that the Commonwealth government
will not interfere in the affairs of member worlds as long as they
abide by certain conditions. First and foremost, planetary
governments agree to honor all reasonable military requests
related to defense of their planet. Planetary governments are
also expected to contribute a portion of their world’s gross income
for the purpose of common defense.
The Commonwealth also expects its member planets to
enforce all laws passed by the Archon and the Estates General.
As previously described, individual planets have the right to
alter these to suit societal conditions, but Tharkad demands that
the original intent of the law be honored. Planets may seek
exemption from various laws because of religious, economic, or
societal conflicts, but this is rare. These planets would have to
petition their Provincial Supreme Court and also ask for a special
waiver from both the Archon and Estates General.
The Commonwealth will punish any government that
abuses the rights of its citizens. These punitive actions might
range from economic blockades for milder infractions to direct
military action against truly evil regimes. Such use of force has
occurred several times in Lyran history.
The most recent instance took place in 2945. Though
not technically a tyrant, Duke Calran of Virtue was a
hedonist of the first order, as were many of his supporters.
While experimenting with recreational drugs, he and
some companions overdosed to the point of psychosis.
In their drugged state, they carried out several hellish
offenses against the citizenry. The Archon immediately
sent troops to arrest the Duke and to protect the citizens of Virtue.
Though the Commonwealth government passes numerous
laws, most of these deal with interplanetary and military issues.
Planetary governments retain a great deal of freedom to function
as they see fit. Indeed, some of the more isolated worlds see the
government on Tharkad as little more than a distant bother that
takes its taxes and occasionally sends an official or two.
Planets that are in trouble may request help from the
Commonwealth government, as, for example, when a natural
disaster has overtaxed the planetary government’s ability to cope.
On several occasions, such as the Reorganization of Garrison
in 2792, the Archon has been asked to step in and reorganize
either a world’s government or economy. In the case of Garrison,
the death of its Duke, coupled with a plague of grain-rot, threw
the planet into a disastrous cycle of economic ruin and political
ineptitude. The Archon imposed a temporary government headed
by a Governor who rebuilt the economy. Within ten years, the
eldest son of the former Duke was able to take back the reins.
Political parties play a strong role in planetary politics, but
have little influence on the Commonwealth level. Within the
Estates General, political partisanship usually depends on
regional loyalties, by where one comes from rather than what
he believes. The Representatives usually break up into nine
loosely organized parties, each representing a province.
What has sprung up in recent years are issue-oriented
organizations. These groups, such as the Commonwealth Free
Trade Society and the Democracy Now Campaign, seek to
promote their particular issue by funding candidates sympathetic
to their cause. Unfortunately, these societies have also spawned
political terrorism. By far the largest is the Brotherhood of
Cincinnatus. Originally a society of veterans of the Succession
Wars, who simply wanted to renew old ties from time to time, the
group eventually gave way to the younger zealots. With
chapterhouses on almost all the worlds bordering the Draconis
Combine and Free Worlds League, the Brotherhood believes in
a strong Commonwealth and deplores attempts at reconciliation
with any of the other Successor States.
Financed by the pensions of veterans and the secret
donations of sympathetic noblemen, the Brotherhood of
Cincinnatus funds politicians who share its views. The group
actively campaigns for their candidates and are often behind
attempts to smear the opposition. Currently, they are most active
in the Tamar Domains, where they and the Homeless openly
demand that the Commonwealth take back some 30 worlds
now under the control of the Draconis Combine.
There is now reason to believe that the Brotherhood of
Cincinnatus is responsible for the wave of terrorist bombings
that have plagued Tamar, Suk II, and Kobe in recent years. These
attacks are usually against the homes of Representatives
sympathetic to the Archon’s wish for an alliance with the
Federated Suns. What the Brotherhood hopes to gain from these
drastic actions is unfathomable.
Since the short but bitter confirmation hearings in
the spring of 3019, Graf Gerald Huston’s tenure as
Chancellor of Internal Affairs has been extremely
uncertain. An Archon’s man, his hands-off policy toward
the investigation of recent incidents of political terrorism
has angered the Estates General. Technically, the
Commonwealth is bound by the Articles to allow planetary
authorities to investigate such incidents. Aside from informally
asking the military stationed on those worlds to keep their eyes
open, the Chancellor is powerless to do anything unless
planetary authorities request his help. Despite that, Graf Huston’s
refusal to interfere has made him very unpopular.
His policies of economic stimulation, worked out in
conjunction with Chancellor of Finances Frederick Henson, have
been especially effective in the Virginia and Bolon provinces.
Unless he can control the terrorist situation soon, the Estates
General and some in the Commonwealth Council will likely
petition the Archon for Huston’s removal.
The Main Administrative Center of the LCCS is on
Donegal. A massive series of buildings, the MaAd Center
processes all the laws, rules, and regulations that come
from Tharkad City, and sees to it that the rest of the
Commonwealth receives the news. Because of this need
to communicate with the other worlds, the LCCS has
always maintained a close and civil relationship with
ComStar.
There is a Regional Administrative Center on Skye, which
is responsible for disseminating the Commonwealth laws and
regulations throughout the Federation of Skye, the most
independent-minded group of Lyran planets. Because its people
are reluctant to be bound by Commonwealth laws, the diplomatic
arm of the LCCS must be constantly at work to win over the
people’s cooperation.
THE LYRAN COMMONWEALTH CIVIL
SERVICE
The Lyran Commonwealth Civil Service carries out the
routine administration of this vast domain. Though not officially
created until late in the 28th century, the LCCS developed from
the body of administrators employed by the nobility and planetary
governments. Today, the LCCS has representatives on every
planet in the Commonwealth. An enormous bureaucracy, the
LCCS has built considerable power of its own.
Employing as many people as the armed forces, the Civil
Service has traditionally been an avenue up and out of the
poorer worlds. It has also often been the choice of second and
third sons and daughters of the nobility who, seeing no great
inheritance coming their way, choose to make a name in the
convoluted intricacies of the Civil Service. Though getting in is
not difficult, competition for the better jobs is fierce, requiring
political savagery as much as job skills.
Because the LCCS is the only representative of the
Commonwealth government on many worlds, even the lowliest
bureaucrat is expected to watch his demeanor and his behavior.
There have, nevertheless, been a number of scandals, making
the local LCCS buildings a focus of anti-Commonwealth
sentiment.
The Chief Administrator is the highest Civil Service position
on individual planets. Though essentially a paper-pusher’s job,
the Chief Administrator’s close contact with a planet’s
government and nobility can give him considerable clout. It takes
only a little ambition on the part of the civil servant to transform
his influence into power. Corruption permeates the civil service,
from the Chief Administrators down through his petty clerks.
The loyalty of the LCCS is to the Commonwealth
government rather than to the Steiner family or the Estates
General, though the Archon does appoint its General Director.
Currently, the General Director of the LCCS is Graf Tyrell Redwell
from Dustball. Created to administer the Commonwealth’s
policies, including the vast amounts of paperwork that
generates, the LCCS has three major administrative centers
through which the flood of bureaucratic red tape is channeled.
Illustrated here is a minor official in the Lyran
Commonwealth Civil Service. Lesser employees in the vast
bureaucracy of the Commonwealth do not wear specific
uniforms. Instead, they are expected to dress in a way that
“reflects the Commonwealths’ respect for a planet’s unique
culture”. This official wears fashions current on Kooken’s
Pleasure Pit, where he lives and works. Only the Steiner Fist
and the small security bar identify him as an employee of the
LCCS.
The Regional Administrative Center on Tamar has
been only semi-functional since receiving heavy damage
during the Kurita invasion of 2915. The original
headquarters building and all its records, as well as the
Duke of Tamar’s personal records and files, were lost in
that battle. The administration of the Tamar Pact has been
haphazard since then. Only since 3021 have there been
efforts to restructure the LCCS in the Tamar Pact. The new
administrative center will be operational on Tamar in 3026. Until
then, the Chief Administrators on Sudeten and Pandora will
continue to handle matters, as they have for the past hundred
years.
There has been serious talk about opening another
Regional Administrative Center somewhere in the Alarion
Province. Though the provinces bordering the Periphery are still
under-populated and under-developed, some members of the
LCCS and the Estates General believe that this area could take
on future strategic importance.
OVERT POLITICAL GOALS
Of the five Successor States, the Lyran Commonwealth
probably has the least interest in becoming the dominant force
among the war-savaged remains of the old Star League. Formed
from the union of three defense leagues, the Commonwealth
continues that spirit of self-defense to this day, caring little for
glory or war-won riches. The public goal of the Steiner family
has been the continued protection and prosperity of all who live
beneath its benevolent reign. The current nobility also embraces
this idea, except for Duke Selvin Kelswa of Tamar who spends
his time dreaming of triumphantly winning back those worlds
that once belonged to the Tamar Pact.
In 3020, Archon Katrina Steiner went one step further by
issuing the Peace Proposal of 3020. In it, she wrote that the
hope for reuniting the Star League through force was a very dim
one that could only lead to more bloodshed, that every Successor
State should be content with what it had and cease the wasteful
warring over worlds. She suggested that the five House leaders
arrange a cease-fire to last for several months, so that they
could meet on Terra. Once there, the five might be able to work
out individual treaties, with the exalted First Circuit of the ComStar
acting as a neutral witness. The Archon’s proposal then outlined
a system that would channel their competitive urges into
economic adventures so that disputes over worlds would be
won by whomever could best economically develop the planet.
The other four Successor States rejected this cease-fire
initiative. Aside from the Draconis Combine, which did not deign
to answer, the other three replied that this proposal for an
economic free-for-all would play into the Commonwealth’s
hands. Everyone knew, they said, that the Commonwealth had
the best industrial base from which to wage this economic war.
Undaunted, the Archon resubmitted her proposal in 3021.
This time, she warned that if anyone “believes that this earnest
wish for peace indicates an inability to defend ourselves, let him
land on any Lyran world to taste firsthand the wrath of peaceloving people thwarted by the myopic greed of a few miserly old
farts”.
Cynthia Eddies, a close personal friend of Katrina
Steiner, has been Chancellor of Foreign Affairs for the
past 16 years. Bright and unassuming, she wields her
power with a thoroughness much admired. Under her
reign, the Diplomatic Corps has increased in importance,
and Eddies has made more efforts to find common
ground with the other Successor States than have all
her predecessors combined.
Grafina Eddies personally delivered much of the
correspondence between Katrina Steiner and Hanse Davion
and has been the driving force behind the proposed consolidation
of the Commonwealth and Federated Suns. Though she seldom
participates in Council debates, in private, she has been known
to lose her temper with her minions. There are rumors currently
circulating that the Diplomatic Guards, bodyguards for all Lyran
diplomats, have been implicated in the death of a certain
nobleman of the Free Worlds League. They have also been
implicated in the assassination of a Lyran nobleman opposed
to the alliance with Davion. If these rumors are true, then Cynthia
Eddies is a far more deadly foe than she appears.
INTERSTELLAR RELATIONS
THE FREE WORLDS LEAGUE
The single, overriding difficulty that House Steiner has in
dealing with the Mariks of the Free Worlds League are the latter
realm’s countless petty principalities. Each has its own twist and
tangle of rules and regulations, which make arranging even a
simple meeting a real test of patience. This chaos has also
severely hampered efforts to ransom Commonwealth prisoners.
Knowledge about where the MechWarrior was captured and by
which Marik unit is vital information for the diplomats trying to
arrange their release. This morass of red tape becomes even
more complicated when attempts are made to contact members
of House Marik.
Janos Marik, leader of the Free Worlds League, delivered
his reply to Katrina Steiner’s cease-fire proposal through a
ComStar facility. It was a softly worded demand stating that the
only way peace could exist between the two states was if a
Marik were to ascend to the Archonship. Janos would probably
accomplish this with the marriage of his heir to Melissa Steiner,
the Archon-Designate. (Who this heir might be is uncertain.) He
also proposed a plan to consolidate the Free Worlds’ currency
with the more powerful Lyran H-Bills. Katrina Steiner did not
even bother to reply.
Despite this, diplomats from both sides are currently
conducting secret talks on Cavanaugh II and Bella I. They are
considering a plan that would open the border between the two
states, allowing a certain number of civilians to immigrate to the
other state. The diplomats are also discussing how to cut down
on the difficulties of exchanges and ransoms.
Lately, the Homeless and the Brotherhood have been active
in their demands for a renewed offensive against the Free Worlds
League. Though their hysterical harangues have raised the blood
pressure of Marik’s diplomats, the secret talks have continued.
They have asked ComStar’s communication crew on Cavanaugh
if they might use the station as a neutral meeting place. That
decision is still pending.
THE CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION
Because the Lyran Commonwealth shares no
common border with the Capellan Confederation, its
leaders have spent little diplomatic effort currying the
favor of this, the smallest of the Successor States. Aside
from the occasional economic mission, there has not
been much contact with them at all.
Maximilian Liao sent a long reply to the Archon’s ceasefire
proposal. He too ruled the plan impossible in its present
condition, but lavishly praised her attempt. Like Duke Marik, he
made a counter-proposal that involved marrying the Archon’s
daughter to one of Liao’s successors. Maximilian Liao further
sought an agreement from House Steiner to commit to a major
military offensive against the Free Worlds League. Liao also
demanded a voice in the Commonwealth Council, “so that I
might better communicate my interests in your great domain”. In
return, the Chancellor promised to fully support Katrina Steiner’s
“efforts to bring a just and lasting peace to our troubled Inner
Sphere”.
Knowing the oily political savvy that the Liao family has
perfected over the last several hundred years plus the prolific
nature of the breed, the Archon wisely turned down the Duke of
Sian’s advances.
THE FEDERATED SUNS
The Federated Suns’ public reply to the peace
initiative stated in part, “that the current state of affairs
makes the idea of a workable cease-fire unlikely”. Though
disappointed, many in the Commonwealth Council and
Diplomatic Corps were moved by the genuine regret
that tinged Prince Davion’s reply. The fact that he did not
seek to impose his own ideas for alliance on the Commonwealth
made Katrina Steiner decide that she wanted very much to get
to know the Fox better.
House Davion’s private reaction to the cease-fire proposal
was apparently much more enthusiastic. With the aid of
diplomatic couriers traveling between the two capitals, a secret
dialogue developed between the two leaders. ComStar agents
managed to copy one such exchange of letters. In one extremely
frank missive, Prince Davion outlined an alliance that would
provide for their common defense without the sacrifice of either
realm’s political sovereignty.
In his vision of the alliance, Davion proposed a fair and
equal exchange of ‘Mech designs and parts, as both sides could
benefit greatly from the other’s unique ‘Mechs. In conjunction
with this exchange of parts and designs, the Federated Suns
would open its prestigious New Avalon Institute of Science to
members of the Commonwealth, as both students and teachers.
Davion also suggested that the two Houses remove all restrictive
tariffs on each other’s goods to encourage economic ties
between the two states. Along with this, each would release any
of the other’s people that it held prisoner and would substantially
loosen up immigration across its borders. Militarily, Duke Davion
proposed that the two Successor States share their intelligence
data and coordinate attacks on their common enemy, the
Draconis Combine.
The thoughtful attention to the dignity of the Commonwealth
and its people impressed Katrina Steiner. Even his outline on
how to patiently win over those who would oppose the alliance
showed the Archon that this Prince was a clear and intelligent
thinker. Yet, what truly impressed and won her over was Davion’s
courteous attitude toward Melissa Steiner. Early on in his
communiqués, Hanse must have mentioned the possibility of
marriage to the young Melissa, but without pressing the issue. In
the intercepted communiqués, he states that the quirkiness of
Love and Fate might turn an arranged marriage into a living hell
for both. Rather than risking the ruin of two lives, he wrote that
their alliance should not depend on his marrying Melissa Steiner.
Katrina Steiner was apparently deeply touched by this
unselfish gallantry in the young Davion. The treaty outlining the
alliance was signed in late 3022 on Sol, and witnessed by the
exalted First Circuit. In the end, the agreement did include a
secret clause betrothing Melissa Steiner to Hanse Davion. It is
assumed that Melissa Steiner and Hanse Davion both retain
the right to break the engagement.
THE DRACONIS COMBINE
In the early years of the Succession Wars, House
Kurita managed to push back the Commonwealth with
ease, taking several dozen worlds in the process. Since
then, the Combine’s leaders have considered the Lyrans
to be their inferiors, and this has colored all dealings
between the two Houses. To say the least, the
condescending Kurita attitude has made dialogue difficult.
When the Draconis Combine did not even bother reply to
Katrina Steiner’s cease-fire initiative, it was not much of a surprise.
Within the Draconis Combine, the Steiner peace proposal offered
one more proof of the Commonwealth’s weakness.
Despite all this, the strict regimentation of politics in the
Draconis Combine actually makes it easier for the Lyrans to
attempt to ransom their imprisoned warriors. In recent days,
however, military actions by the Draconis Combine have resulted
in the severing of nearly all diplomatic ties. How soon relations
between these neighboring Houses might improve is anybody’s
guess.
THE PERIPHERY
Relations between the Lyran Commonwealth and Hendrik
Grimm III have warmed considerably over the years. Many in the
Lyran military believe that Hendrik’s ‘Mech regiment might be
enough of a threat to the Draconis Combine that winning his
support would be worth the effort. For that reason, Katrina Steiner
has dispatched several missions to court Hendrik’s favor with
offers of money and spare parts. The hope is that the Bandit King
will join with the Commonwealth in some political tie and that he
will then turn his ‘Mechs loose on the flank of the Combine.
The Lyrans have found Bandit King Redjack Ryan to be
nothing but a criminal, on the other hand. He has spurned all
attempts to curtail his banditry. Attempts to bribe him into focusing
his attentions on Combine worlds have only resulted in a series
of double-crosses.
The Circinus Federation presents a new and perplexing
problem for the Commonwealth. A fair number of
Commonwealth deserters have made their way to the Circinus
worlds to serve as officers in Clayborne II’s ‘Mech regiment. The
Confederation has since carried out many recent raids against
Steiner worlds, which is how the Commonwealth became aware
of this relatively new bandit kingdom. (NOTE: These attacks were
against the express orders of our ComStar representative at the
Circinus world of Ulro. Actions against the Circinus Federation
are pending.)
Despite this banditry, the Circinus Federation’s wellequipped regiment makes it an attractive ally for the
Commonwealth. Indeed, the Lyran high command would like to
hire the Federation for the same reasons they seek Hendrik’s
aid. The Circinus ‘Mechs would be very effective in harassing
the Free Worlds League and pinning down several of their
regiments. How the Lyrans will accomplish this in the face of
continued desertions from the Commonwealth military to the
Circinus Federation is not known.
COMSTAR
On the surface, ComStar’s relations with the
Commonwealth have been characterized by cautious
respect. Only the Exclusion of Tharkad in 2823 has marred
the public good will between our order and House
Steiner. Underneath, in the twilight realm of espionage,
the Commonwealth has been one of the most persistent
enemies to our secrets and continued covert operations.
The Exclusion of Tharkad in 2823 came in retaliation for the
Estates General’s insistence that all property owned by ComStar
be taxed like that of any other ‘business’. In reaction, the wise
First Tech Toyama shut down the ComStar facility on Tharkad
until the Steiner government repealed the edict taxing ComStar
property. The Exclusion order against Tharkad was lifted in 2824.
Oddly enough, Representatives of the Estates General seem to
have accomplished more during the Exclusion than in any
sessions before or since, probably because they were free of
distracting communications from their homeworlds. Rumor has
it that some Representatives were actually sad to see the
ComStar facility open again.
As a result of Katrina Steiner’s considerable negotiating
skill, ComStar and the Commonwealth have recently signed a
secret trades treaty. We agreed to improve services and to
upgrade the communications facilities at Coventry, Malibu,
Poulsbo, and Denebola V to ‘A’ status. In return, Steiner agreed
to supply us with raw materials and to curtail her covert operations
against our agents.
Whether the Archon will actually stop the surveillance and
occasional kidnapping of our personnel is uncertain, considering
the Commonwealth’s long history of suspicion toward us. What
we do know is that the Commonwealth Intelligence Corps has
pulled back its overt surveillance, but the occasional bug and
listening net are still uncovered around our installations.
Lyran Intelligence recently discovered a Thomas Marik
currently stationed at our relay station of Teukros, near the Free
Worlds border. This fact had escaped even our attention and so
ROM is now evaluating the possible importance of Marik’s
presence there.
Within the past month, a new and ominous situation has
arisen. Dressed in camouflage and armed with pistol lasers, five
commandos gained access to the secure area of the recently
upgraded relay station on Poulsbo. They did not harm any of our
staff, seeming more concerned with information from the station’s
computer. Per the usual security procedures, a number of ROM
agents were masquerading as local citizenry and managed to
surprise the intruders. The fierceness of the ensuing battle made
it plain that the ROM agents would have to kill the intruders.
Seven of our agents died as well. Upon examining the dead, the
remaining ROM agents discovered evidence to suggest that the
Commonwealth was behind this heinous act. To this day, Lyran
intelligence has not learned the fate of these commandos.
It is obvious that ComStar cannot allow an action against
the sanctity of one of our stations to remain unpunished. If we
were to retaliate against the Commonwealth right now, however,
it would endanger our recent treaty with them and the muchneeded supplies it promised. The other question is what the
Archon will do once she finds out that the commandos are dead,
assuming she gave the orders for the mission. Some of the
investigating ROM agents have become convinced that the
Archon was not behind the attack. They speculate that a third
party created the incident in an attempt to disrupt negotiations
between ComStar and the Lyrans.
COVERT POLITICAL GOALS
THE ARCHON
Most of Katrina Steiner’s hopes for the future seem
to center on her recent alliance with House Davion. There
are obvious benefits for such an alliance, including
coordination of attacks, shared equipment, and cultural
exchanges, but we suspect another, less obvious advantage.
Though our contacts in the Steiner household are few, they
seem to believe that the alliance has eased Katrina’s mind about
her daughter’s future.
Though Katrina is in her prime, she knows that Melissa will
one day take her place. Perhaps she fears that the girl is too
gentle to become an effective ruler. Or, perhaps Katrina dreads
exposing her daughter to the assassinations that have ended
the reigns of so many Archons. Indeed, this is the likely reason
she agreed to betroth Melissa to Hanse Davion and to the
succession of their first offspring to the joint realms of a Federated
Commonwealth, the tentative name they have created for any
consolidation of the two Successor States. Her fear now may be
that news of the betrothal will leak out to cripple her plans. As a
mother, the Archon probably also worries that Melissa and Hanse
will not get along, even though love is seldom a consideration in
political marriages.
On the homefront, the Lyran Intelligence Corps has informed
the Archon that Duke Frederick Steiner is plotting yet another
attempt to seize power. They assume that the plot will culminate
in another attempt on her life. If further evidence confirms these
reports, Katrina Steiner may want to end her rebellious cousin’s
nonsense once and for all. Considering the past history between
the two, she could easily opt to lay a counter-plot that will either
disgrace the troublesome Frederick or simply kill him off.
THE LYRAN INTELLIGENCE CORPS
The Lyran Intelligence Corps, founded early in Katherine
Steiner’s reign, is the covert base of House Steiner’s power in
the Commonwealth. Though not as ruthless or flashy as its
counterparts in other States, the LIC has gained a reputation for
dependable and solid service.
The LIC is divided into six major branches. Lohengrin is its
anti-terrorist unit. Recruited from the Commonwealth’s
orphanages, its members receive extensive combat and
weapons training, plus in-depth study of the methods and
psychology of their opponents. The Lohengrin are divided into
platoons and assigned to key worlds to await the call for their
services. Once the call comes, the team moves into action,
hunting terrorists on their own terms. As training, the Lohengrin
often spar with Loki, the Commonwealth’s terrorist team, using
toned-down weaponry.
The second section of the LIC is Propaganda, whose job is
to publicly present the Commonwealth in the best possible light.
This is especially important on worlds recently wrested from
enemies. The Propaganda section of the LIC does use
operatives, but their work is not particularly dangerous because
it deals mainly with attempts to sway public opinion toward the
Lyran point of view.
The Espionage branch of the LIC is divided into three
subsections. One is the Bondians, the group responsible for
the training, education, and assignment of Commonwealth
operatives. This group’s most spectacular known success was
the assassination of Yoguchi Kurita in 2850, then ruler of the
Draconis Combine. A Bondian operative infiltrated the Kurita
household, became one of his mistresses, and used her position
to cut his throat while he slept. The Molehunters is the
Melissa Arthur Steiner, the Archon-designate, is shown here
in the formal gown she wore at the closing ceremonies of the
Royal Court last month.
The destiny of billions rest upon the elegant shoulders of
this young woman, and on her future relations with Hanse Davion
of the Federated Suns. While Melissa lacks her mother’s
commanding presence, many feel her intelligence and tact will
stand in good stead when she assumes her role as a ruler of
worlds.
section in charge of hunting down and disposing of
enemy spies within the Commonwealth. The Loki is the
Commonwealth’s well-trained terrorist unit. Though not
much used, the Loki is an elite group. Led by the secretive
Graf Diana Sereal, the unit has recently grown in size
and has apparently begun to modify an unknown number
of ‘Mechs for the team’s personal use.
The DC is the quasi-diplomatic branch of the LIC. Trained
for a kind of private, behind-the-scenes diplomacy, the DCs have
collided many times with the Foreign Affairs Office. Though some
of her advisors believe Katrina Steiner should reassign the DCs
to the Foreign Affairs Office, the Archon finds it to be more useful
as part of the LIC and so puts up with the occasional
embarrassment.
Security is one of the most important divisions of the LIC.
Extensively trained in weaponry and security procedures, its
members form the bulk of bodyguards, guardsmen, and drivers
for the Commonwealth government.
The last, and possibly most important, section of the LIC are
the Norns. Named after the Fates of ancient Scandinavian
legend, they are the information-gathers of the Commonwealth.
The Norns religiously monitor all communications from the other
Houses and process the information gathered by other
Commonwealth operatives. Based on all available data, the
Norns advise the Archon on what moves the other Successor
Lords may be planning. Their skill has saved many Lyran lives.
Landgrave Simon Johnson has headed the Lyran
Intelligence Corps for the last 20 years. He was a close friend of
Alessandro Steiner, the former Archon, but has also managed
to be on fairly good terms with the current Archon. His wit and
courtesy make him a popular guest at important social events,
and he has uncanny knack of gaining people’s trust. These skills
made Johnson a natural at intelligence and therefore successful
in his LIC career. One of his current concerns is that the alliance
with the Federated Suns may be far too shaky for the Archon to
be placing so much confidence in it. As for his Federated Suns
counterpart, Johnson admires the man enough not to trust him
very far.
THE ROYAL COURT
Factions for and against the alliance with the Federated
Suns have raised tensions in the Royal Court to a near fever
pitch. The Archon has also recently stepped up security within
the Court in reaction to rumors about possible assassination
attempts.
Nobles who oppose the alliance are dubbed ‘the Patriots’,
and are secretly led by Frederick Steiner. With Frederick so often
away with his regiment, Duke Aldo Lestrade of Summer acts as
his proxy. Duke Frederick has correctly divined the proposed
marriage of the Archon-Designate to Hanse Davion. Together,
he and Lestrade have hatched a plan to disgrace visiting Davion
diplomats and to remove Melissa Steiner as Archon-Designate,
thereby scuttling the Steiner-Davion treaty. Lyran intelligence,
however, believes that the plan involves a direct attack against
the Archon herself and not against Melissa Steiner. This
miscalculation may have grave consequences in the future.
Duke Lestrade is currently lobbying for support of the Patriots’
position among the undecided nobles of the Periphery provinces
who, till now, have been little involved with the alliance debate.
According to our sources, there are at least nine operatives
at work in the Royal Court. Two are from the Draconis Combine:
Mark Semser and Laura Caully. Both are ISF and seem to be
sleuthing for more information about the alliance. Their cover as
low-grade bureaucrats has not allowed them to make
much progress thus far. The Molehunters of the LIC are
well aware of these two spies and are purposely feeding
them bogus information. They probably hope to track
down their means of communicating with their superiors.
At least two operatives from the Free Worlds League
are also definitely in place, though their identities remain
unknown. The recent murder of Graf Yollers from Pollux, who
was found dead in a cloak room, had all the earmarks of classic
House Marik hit-squad precision. Security and the Molehunters
have yet to apprehend the assassins, but increased use of LIC
communication links in recent days probably indicates that they
are closing in on the hit squad.
There are also three operatives from the Federated Suns.
One is Richard Efler, who is currently posing as an artist from
New Earth. The other two are unknown to us as yet. The probable
mission of these spies is to identity and target Commonwealth
nobles opposed to the Steiner-Davion alliance. What they intend
to do when they find these opponents is uncertain. It is assumed
that the Lyran Intelligence Corps is aware of the Davion spies
and simply turns a blind eye to their activities.
ComStar has planted two operatives in the Royal Court on
Tharkad. Once they learn who ordered the commando raid on
our installation on Poulsbo, the two will report back and await
further instructions, which could include a termination order. As
the Lyran Intelligence Corps is not aware of the failure of their
commando mission, we can assume that our ROM officers are,
as yet, undetected.
THE ESTATES GENERAL
Plots and plans run thick among the Estates General
Representatives, but most involve generating votes for certain
bills, illegal financial schemes, and so on. Most Representatives
avoid anything too dangerous or underhanded because their
reputations are their bread and butter. Besides, the average
delegate has no other special motive except to see a
constitutional convention called.
The 20 members of the Steering Committee that leads the
Estates may have more ambitious plans. Well-pleased with their
role in deposing Archon Alessandro, the elder Representatives
have recently branched out into a number of secret activities,
some of which could greatly expand the power of the Estates
General. For example, they want more say in Lyran military and
foreign policy, and are not above bribery to get it. They have
already requested that the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth
look more sympathetically at their side of disputes with the
Archon and nobility. Similar requests have doubtless gone to
the ten Provincial Courts. The Steering Committee has also
contacted the non-noble members of the Commonwealth
Council with a similar request. Whether these secret messages
were accompanied by bribe money is unknown.
History has taught the Steiner family to be wary of the Estates
General and, especially, the Steering Committee. These wouldbe harbingers of true democracy will need a far larger base of
support before they can succeed in obtaining more power,
however. They do realize that the more people who know their
plans, the more they risk being discovered. Indeed, there are
indications that the LIC is already suspicious of the 20 elders.
How the Archon chooses to handle this burgeoning revolt will
determine the seriousness of the situation. Being either too timid
or too harsh could have the same effect of fanning the flames
instead of putting out the sparks of rebellion.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
The popularity of the Lyran Commonwealth has
never been greater than it is now among the citizenry.
Most Lyrans are well-pleased with their political rights
and their general economic well-being. Though there
are pockets of discontent, the general satisfaction with
the present system makes a popular uprising highly unlikely.
The government’s policy of loose control over its member
worlds has been effective in fostering growth. Programs aimed
at stimulating industry through generous grants of venture capital
to burgeoning businesses and various rewards for successful
enterprises have created an atmosphere of economic vigor and
fluidity. Indeed, these policies have given the Lyran
Commonwealth the highest average standard of living and the
most-recovered economy in the Inner Sphere. It would take
another disastrous war to significantly dim the economic picture.
The general structure of the government is another point in
the Commonwealth’s favor. Though the Archon’s rule is absolute,
the existence of the Estates General, the Commonwealth
Council, and the Commonwealth Judiciary do provide some
checks and balances. Though the ambitions of individual Lyrans
could endanger this balance, the situation is remarkably stable.
The use of titles in the Commonwealth also bolsters the
government’s stability because they promote the acquisition of
wealth. Through hard work and perseverance, a commoner can
actually hope to gain a title. This loose and accessible system of
nobility makes the average man aspire to winning a title rather
than despising the privilege.
On the negative side, the government’s loose hold over its
member-worlds sometimes fosters the feeling that a Lyran
belongs to a particular world first, and to the Commonwealth
second. This stubborn independence has caused some serious
troubles in the Commonwealth’s history. The Archon has often
had to put down these rebellions with a show of force. In 2978,
the planet Summit rebelled. Calling itself the ‘Proud Sovereign
World of Summit’, its people demanded independent status.
The rebels killed their Duke, a loyal Archon’s man, while the
majority of the populace rioted against government installations.
The local garrison, including a ‘Mech lance, sided with the rebels.
The Steiners had to drop a whole regiment onto the world to
wipe out the rebellious military forces and to put down the revolt.
Because House Steiner maintains an equally loose control
over the business sector, there have been a few rebellious
outbreaks in that sector, too. In a few instances, industries ‘forgot’
to pay their taxes, failed to honor manufacturing contracts with
the Commonwealth military, or ‘forgot’ to donate raw materials to
the government. Depending on the situation, the government
politely or not so politely reminded these groups of their duty.
Sometimes it takes a little more than that, and the Archon will
have to replace the firm’s executive staff with her own special
administrators until the situation is corrected.
Though the plots and scheming are not as thick as in the
other Successor States, the atmosphere of intrigue is strong
enough in Tharkad City to interfere with the government’s
functioning. Sometimes, for example, the least sophisticated
nobles are so intimidated that they will withdraw from debates
whose outcome will seriously affect their individual worlds.
A young S.L. from Lohengrin, the Commonwealth’s antiterrorist group, prepares to become the focus of a riot. S.L. officers
are assigned to aid a planet’s police fore, in hopes that the S.L.’s
presence will provoke anti-Commonwealth terrorists, exposing
them to capture. The initials S.L. mean Strategic Local, but they
are popularly explained as Sacrificial Lamb. In her left hand, the
S.L. holds an electrostatic force generator, used to stun persons
up to 15 meters from the officer. In her right hand is a plastic
shield. If the crowd gets too unruly, she has a powerful side arm
in a quick-release holster.
RELIGION AND
PHILOSOPHY
Of the five Successor States, the Lyran Commonwealth is
probably the most tolerant toward diversity of religious beliefs.
Though this leniency is in no way official policy (the nobility
tending to be either Protestant Christians or Buddhists), most
Lyrans believe that religious persuasion has little bearing on
the pursuit of wealth, which is a commonly shared goal. Though
religious tolerance could have led to the development of one
new doctrine that blended the many, the major religions of the
newly arrived immigrants seemed to grow more sharply defined
after transplanting.
This report discusses the five major religious traditions of
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism as they
relate to the Lyran Commonwealth. There is also a description
of the emerging One Star religion and other contemporary beliefs.
JUDAISM
The long and eventful Jewish tradition has been
characterized by great tragedy and also by great nobility in the
face of it. Though the Jewish people had long been the
scapegoats of Christian societies, in the 21st century, they ceased
to be social pariahs. It all happened in 2053, when Easter and
Passover services became one ceremony at the Vatican, the
heart of the Roman Catholic Church. These services, held just
after the ouster of the Ben Raban tyranny in the Jewish state of
Israel, served notice that Pope John wanted to end the stigma
attached to Judaism. It also preceded the Pope’s announcement
that the most respected rabbis of Judaism had been invited to
serve the Vatican as honored counselors and consultants.
Though old prejudices die hard, the Pope’s bold actions paved
the way for the eventual acceptance of Jews.
The sudden access to nearby star systems during the
Exodus of the 22nd century was perhaps the greatest test for the
Jews in recent centuries. As small groups of believers ventured
out into the cosmos without the aid of a rabbi or scriptures, the
strong sense of community that had characterized the Jewish
people became endangered. To meet this problem and to help
propagate the faith beyond Terra, a myriad of rabbinical institutes
were established on many of the major settled planets. Today,
there are over 100 in the Commonwealth alone. The most
important of these is Ohav Shalom on Donegal. A huge, ornate
synagogue and teaching institute, Ohav Shalom’s large campus
is situated against the sun-baked mountains of the Piety Range
on Donegal’s Northern Continent.
Within the Commonwealth’s Jewish community, the
population is fairly split between the Orthodox set of beliefs, with
its strong grounding in the scriptures, and mystical NeoHassidism, which emphasizes a more ascetic view of God and
life. What the two traditions do share is a common belief in the
prophecies about the role Jews would play in the major events
facing mankind.
As they have often done throughout their long history, Jews
have tended to gather together in tightly knit communities in the
Commonwealth. This natural clustering probably dates back to
the days of the squalid Jewish ghettos on Earth. In modern usage,
Jews use the word ghetto with considerable pride to denote any
large city or nation of Jews. For example, there is the New
Jerusalem ghetto, a medium-sized city on Tharkad. The skein of
rituals that makes up even the most modern of Jewish traditions
has been one of the most potent factors in the community’s
cohesion and survival.
Today, Judaism is alive and well in the Lyran
Commonwealth. Of the five major religions, it is second in total
numbers, according to the Commonwealth-Gallup poll of 3009.
Jews live and work in all sectors of Commonwealth citizenry,
from the lowliest migrant worker on Dustball to the high nobility
on Tharkad. Their belief in an ethical universe and their deep
involvement in the workings of its sometimes tarnished reality
have made them among the most outspoken Representatives
in the Commonwealth government. The halls of the Estates
General have often echoed with great oratory by Jewish
Representatives, whose years of disciplined study have honed
their minds to a keen and logical edge.
In politics, the Jewish community tends to side with the
Estates General in its disputes with the Archon. Because Judaism
has historically suffered under monarchies, its members seem
to have developed a deep, instinctive mistrust of any hereditary
leader, no matter how benevolent.
Jews decide the question of whether one man should take
up arms against his fellows on an individual basis, and the
many rabbinical institutes also have mixed views. The more
militant groups favor an aggressive policy and believe the military
to be a highly worthy career for young men and women. Other
rabbis abhor violence of any type and counsel against taking
another’s life, even in self-defense.
One of the Jews’ most prominent contributions to the
Commonwealth is the current renaissance in poetry, led by a
group of Jewish poets. Though most of these poets write in
Hebrew or Yiddish, enough has been translated into Standard
to spawn a legion of Gentile imitators. The originators of this
poetic movement have been frequently invited to the Royal Court
and also enjoy the favor of many noblemen.
As noted before, the Jewish community tends to congregate
into groups, or ghettos, yet few have ever sought to own
landholdings larger than an occasional city or nation on Steiner
worlds. Therefore, there are no strictly ‘Jewish’ worlds. One cluster
of worlds, centered about York, does have a high concentration
of Jews, but the average community is about 50 percent Jewish,
the rest being of mixed religions.
CHRISTIANITY
There are over 50 established religions claiming
the Gospel as their foundation in the Lyran
Commonwealth. Though most trace their origins back to
pre-Exodus Terra, a few, like the Voyager Christian Church
of New Exford, were born far from mankind’s cradle.
This diversity has been Christianity’s boon and bane. The
sometimes violent disagreements over seemingly innocuous
differences in scriptural interpretation have weakened the entire
Christian movement at crucial points in its history. The days of
the Exodus are a good example of how damaging dogmatic
stubbornness can be.
Once bitter enemies, the Roman Catholic Church and the
Greek Orthodox Church had spent a century in delicate
negotiations aimed at a full merger into a single great religion,
doubly blessed by tradition and history. It was the question of the
religious aspect of man’s venturing out into the cosmos that
grew from a minor disagreement into a rift even greater than the
one the two groups had been trying to mend. Nine centuries
later, the two churches have yet to come to an agreement.
Of all the religions, Christians are the most numerous in the
Lyran Commonwealth, and so currents in Christian thought can
seriously affect the general public. The discussions among the
various denominations have been both thought-provoking and
strengthening. As creative as these debates were, the Christian
ideal has had its dark winters, too. Sudden waves of ultraconservatism have swept the Commonwealth, with demands
for unquestioning worship and unwavering obedience to dogma.
The self-loathing inherent in these movements has had a
particularly adverse effect on Lyran arts and sciences. As more
emphasis is placed on dialogue between the various Christian
churches, these tides of corrosive conservatism have grown
fewer and farther between.
The impulse to dialogue received its greatest boost when
most of the major Christian churches allied themselves in a
loose confederation called the Commonwealth Church Council.
This Council of 30 of the most respected prelates, priests, pastors,
reverends, and rectors meets twice a year to discuss how their
churches have interacted with one another and with the
Commonwealth government. As a group, the Council has tended
to be very pro-Archon, believing that the predominantly Lutheran
Steiner family has proven itself worthy to rule the millions of
Christians in the Commonwealth.
On the other hand, the Commonwealth Church Council
sees itself in a watchdog role, too. One of the purposes of its
biannual meetings, held on Donegal, is to draw up a pastoral
latter that notes the Council’s reaction to recent laws or actions
of the Commonwealth government. Except for this, the Church
Council and most churches shy away from involvement in the
political arena. Local candidates often give speeches or
participate in debates sponsored by church groups, but these
groups rarely take the next step of endorsing one candidate
over another. Political choices are left to the individual members
of the congregation.
At least 500 privately funded seminaries have been
established in the Commonwealth. By far the largest and most
prestigious of these is St. Rethwin’s College for Theological
Studies on New Earth. For the past 400 years, this seminary has
grown to cover instruction in not one, but more than 20 different
Christian and non- Christian traditions.
At the other extreme is a particularly distasteful sect
of New Calvinism centered at New Capetown. The
inhabitants of this world trace their ancestry to white
South Afrikaaners, the instigators of one of the most
repressive Terran regimes of the 20th century. The New
Capetowners have retained much of their ancestors’
bigotry, making the place distasteful to the vast majority
of Commonwealth citizens. A number of churches have
sponsored a movement to have New Capetown declared a
tyranny, which would require that the Steiner government step
in and remove the oppressive regime.
As a whole, Christianity has influenced the fairness and
relative peacefulness of the Lyran Commonwealth. Though the
religion has its own dark side, the vast majority of Christians are
well-meaning believers who intend that their religion will continue
to flourish.
ISLAM
The spread of Islam has long been hindered by its inability
to wed the high technology of the modern world with the Koran,
the Islamic holy book. For that reason, the Islamic tradition is
only now making its presence felt in the Commonwealth. The
youngest of the five major religions, Islam has always been
near-fanatical in interpreting its doctrine. When faced with the
Exodus, which so contradicted some of their most basic beliefs,
the followers of Islam suffered a numbing religious shock that
lasted for some 400 years.
The Moslem leaders took an anti-technological stance,
stating that the Exodus was an affront to God and, therefore, evil.
As the majority of Moslems shared this belief, these people
wandered the near-abandoned Terra for 200 years. Almost
overnight, theirs had become the dominant religion on the planet,
ruling over empty deserts and abandoned towns that spoke
only with the voice of the lonely wind.
As mankind survived and seemed to prosper up there in
the night sky, Moslems eventually began to reevaluate their
own beliefs. It took some 30 years of meetings, councils, and
debates before they could reach a consensus that reconciled
the Koran with the diaspora of humanity. The one concrete act
that occurred during those decades of debate was the removal
of the ban on space transportation in 2443. Almost immediately,
there began an exodus of Moslems from Terra.
Since that time, the Islamic faith has spread slowly through
the Inner Sphere. In the Commonwealth, its center is Dar-esSalaam, a desert world well-suited to the Islamic people’s taste.
Though the group has not made great efforts to attract converts,
the relatively simple set of beliefs outlined in the Koran seems to
appeal to many people who have grown weary of the maze-like
speculations of other religions. Its strict morality places great
emphasis on the family, which is a comfort during uncertain
times and in the midst of strange surroundings.
The Black Muslim faith is an offshoot of the Islamic tradition,
with roots extending back to North America in the late 20th
century, when Blacks were oppressed as second-class citizens.
Several influential revolutionary Blacks adopted the Islamic faith
and adapted it to their plight. The belief survived the eventual
affirmation of Blacks as citizens of equal worth and privilege in
the 21st century. In the Lyran Commonwealth, the Black Muslim
faith is strongest in the Coventry and Trellshire provinces, where
Black Americans and Africans settled in the late 23rd century.
The Islamic and Black Muslim faiths have the fewest
followers of the five major religions in the Lyran
Commonwealth. Its people’s great devotion to their
religion also gives them a singlemindedness in their fields
of expertise. As warriors, especially in desert units, they
have no equal. As artisans, their skills in abstract sculpture
and architecture are also well-known.
Politically, Moslems tend to be pro-Archon, honoring the
fact that House Steiner accepted many Islamic refugees fleeing
the purges of the Draconis Combine. Black Muslims, on the
other hand, tend to favor the Estates General. Their history of
strong-willed independence makes them sensitive to even the
slightest infringement of their rights as free and equal citizens of
the Commonwealth.
Neither the Islamics nor the Black Muslims have been
particularly active proselytizers, yet their faith has continued to
spread. The harsh living conditions of the many under-populated
worlds of the Periphery provinces make these peoples
particularly receptive to the Islamic brand of self-reliance.
HINDUISM
Hinduism, which includes a profusion of related religions
born 5,000 years ago in India, has managed to prosper against
great odds in the Lyran Commonwealth. Like Islam, the Hinduism
of Terra had for centuries remained centered near its birthplace
along the Ganges in India. During the Exodus, most Hindus
could not cope with either the sudden, limitless possibilities or
the idea of their complex system of beliefs being transplanted
among the stars. This, coupled with the fact that the average
Hindu was still quite poor, restricted the numbers of starfaring
Hindus to those few who were rich enough and open-minded
enough to leave. Not until the Alliance created an economic
quota system for immigration (and the high priests of Hinduism
gave their blessing) did the average Hindu take his place among
the other pioneers of the Exodus.
Most Hindus preferred to remain in the land of their faith,
however. That meant that by the 23rd century, the average Hindu
community in the colony worlds was without spiritual guidance.
Hinduism eventually proved to be adaptable. The leading Hindu
wise men, priests, and representatives from every major colony
world called a congress that eventually came to a major
theological decision. They decided that though India was the
spiritual home of their religion, every planet had its own heart,
its own religious center. With help from the holy men of Terra,
new priests could be trained on every new world. These new
priests would preach both the holiness of their new world as
well as a continuing commitment to traditional beliefs.
Some 50 Lyran worlds currently have sizeable Hindu
populations, though each of these has developed its own brand
of Hinduism. To keep the basic tenets alive, a grand congress is
held every ten years, attended by representatives from each
Hindu variant group. In this exchange, the groups reaffirm their
convictions while enjoying the stimulation of seeing how the
various worlds have interpreted the ancient traditions.
Chahar and New India are the two Lyran worlds with the
largest Hindu populations. Both planets have set aside special
cities for the sole purpose of worship. On Chahar, the city is
called Benares; on New India, it is Mathura.
Politically, the Hindus tend to be neutral, though they
have occasionally published grievances or proposals
as the Christian Council does. Many individual Hindus
serve in the Commonwealth government, particularly
as diplomats. On the other hand, worlds where the more
militant traditions of Hinduism dominate have produced
warriors of legendary fierceness.
Hinduism has not converted many people of non-Indian
descent, but the rich pageants of the festivals on Chahar and
New India do draw many non-believers to witness these
spectacular rituals.
BUDDHISM
The only major religion centered around the monastic
principle, Buddhism has spread throughout the Inner Sphere
without any active efforts to propagate its faith. Because its
philosophy promotes personal reflection and interpretation,
Buddhist monks did not have the resistance to leaving Terra that
their Islamic or Hindu counterparts had. The Buddhist monks
saw that they were needed in the colonies, and simply left to
establish new monasteries among the stars.
The vast majority of Buddhists in the Lyran Commonwealth
ascribe to either the Pure Land Sect or Zen Buddhism, though a
substantial number of Tibetan Tantric Buddhists reside along
the borders with the Draconis Combine. All three variations teach
the individual to seek enlightenment through meditation and
adherence to the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the
historical Buddha, and so they co-exist without conflict.
There are two centers of Buddhist tradition in the Lyran
Commonwealth today. The group of planets centered about New
Kyoto in the Rahnshire are heavily populated with Japanese
descendents. On New Kyoto, there is the Toshodai-ji temple,
which houses the largest known sculpture of the Amida Buddha.
The other center of the Buddhist tradition is on the planet
Kwangchowwang, whose population is primarily of Chinese
ancestry. Theirs is a quieter, less ornate Zen Buddhism. In the
rough mountains of Kwangchowwang, there are about a
hundred monasteries and retreats open to both believers and
nonbelievers seeking respite from the demands of harried lives.
Politically, the average Buddhist tends to be pro-Archon.
The monks and priests, on the other hand, teach a passive
noninvolvement with the events of this illusion we call reality.
Given the religious emphasis on self-reliance, meditation, and
clear thought, those Buddhists who do enter political and military
life often succeed spectacularly amid the chaos.
The Buddhist faith, which is contemplative and introspective,
is not the sort to suddenly spread like wildfire, converting all in
its path. Instead, its time-honored commitment to meditation
slowly but steadily attracts a stream of converts, often from among
young people who are disenchanted with the evanescence of
life.
THE ONE STAR FAITH
AND OTHER BELIEFS
New faiths unique to the Commonwealth have
appeared over the last century. None has yet won over
enough converts to be a major religious force, but the
phenomenon is worth noting.
The most popular of these is the One Star Faith, which began
on Graceland in the Tamar Pact in 2801. Simon Kroeger, a
merchant of considerable wealth, is said to have experienced a
religious revelation upon accepting an invitation to peer through
a neighbor’s telescope. His now famous words are that instead
of seeing “myriad stars awash in the sea of black space, I saw
instead a single star. This one star burned blue with purity. About
this truthful star was a world, and about this world, so green and
inviting, were the long abandoned ships of General Kerensky”.
This strange vision soon began to win over converts who
considered Simon Kroeger a prophet, much to his chagrin. As a
result, a very unsympathetic nobleman forced Kroeger and his
followers to leave Graceland. This led the group to begin what
would become a pilgrimage throughout the Commonwealth in
search of the One Star, which they believed would be Paradise.
Though Kroeger’s time on the various worlds was usually brief,
his fame spread, spawning priests of the One Star who wanted
to preach the word.
A dogma eventually grew up around this search for the One
Star. Believers began installing their own observatories behind
their homes or on rooftops. Nightly devotions became entwined
with systematic scanning of the heavens for the star “that burned
with truth as its light”. Also part of the beliefs was a strict moral
code that included the obligation to donate a substantial portion
of one’s income to a communal fund. Many relatives of One Star
believers thought this was just a clever scam, resulting in a
number of long and sad court cases.
The communal money did benefit the One Star believers,
however, by paying for their sporadic migrations. Though Kroeger
has long since died, every 30 years, the High Elders decide that
a particular section of space is more likely to contain the One
Star. In a great flurry, the mass of believers gather up their
belongings and hire passage aboard merchant ships to a new
set of planets. Needless to say, neither their old home planets
nor their destination worlds are much pleased by the sudden
population shifts created by these religious vagabonds.
The believers in the One Star always prominently display a
brooch or ornate patch depicting that elusive sun with its deep
blue rays of light. Their pilgrimages have led the vagabond
believers in the Ono Star from the Federation of Skye, to the
Tamar Pact near Carse, to the Dark Nebula, and into the District
of Donegal. They are currently clustered about the world of
Halfway in the Bolan Province.
The One Star faith promotes a puritanical attitude toward
property, work, women, and sexuality. Indeed, many of their
repressive beliefs would be more at home in the 20th century. It
is said that One Star people combine the slick charm of a Donegal
snake-oil salesman and the high-handedness of an Odessan
noblewoman.
Politically, the ultra-conservatism that permeates
their lives spills over into fanatical support of the Archon.
However, the group is ever on the alert for legislation
that would hamper their right to sporadic migrations. Many
of its faithful have become skilled lawyers in immigration
law, and the others rail like furies against any politician
who proposes a bill to limit their wanderings. On more
than one occasion, their fury has changed from protests to insults
and even physical violence.
In addition to the One Star, the Lyran Commonwealth has
other minor religions such as the Suk Requiem Believers on
Suk II, who have melded Tantric Buddhism with Christianity with
unique results. On Aristotle, there are the Worshippers of the
Great Delphi, a contemporary religion based on the
reinterpretation of the ancient Greek myths and legends.
Whether these are religions or crackpot cults depends on one’s
point of view. Few last beyond a single generation, but there are
always new ones to take their place.
RELATIONS BETWEEN RELIGIONS
The relations between the major religions in the
Commonwealth have been generally harmonious, due to the
establishment of the Commonwealth Religious Council in 2590.
Headed ceremoniously by the Chancellor of the Peoples, the
Commonwealth Religious Council includes the five ranking
administrators of the major religions. The group meets once
every other year in the Lutheran Cathedral in Tharkad City to
discuss any incidents of the past two years that might have had
religious overtones. They also discuss ways to open
communications between the faiths, including reviewing various
books and videos that seek to educate non-members about a
particular religion.
There have been only two true religious feuds in
Commonwealth history, but neither spread beyond its planet of
origin. On the planet Arc-Royal, the Catholics and Buddhists
have clashed unmercifully over the past 70 years. As far as it
can now be pieced together, the original cause of the feud was
a dispute over land owned by a Buddhist, but over which a
Catholic claimed the mineral rights. More than three thousand
people have died in countless brawls and midnight murders
related to the feud. The Duke of Arc-Royal has twice tried to calm
things by imposing curfews and jailing the leaders of each
religion’s radical gang, but to no effect. Perhaps the Religious
Council will have better luck. The Hindu delegate has proposed
that all five members of the Council travel to Arc-Royal to attempt
to mediate a solution.
The other serious religious friction exists between Islamic
merchantmen and the believers of the One Star on the planet
Bolan. It all began in 3017, when the Islamic owners of a housing
project would not allow the One Star believers to build
observatories on the roofs of their rented housing. When the
One Star group persisted, the landlords threatened to evict them,
which sparked a riot. The violence has died down in recent
years, but not the tension. The Religious Council has offered to
step in, but the One Star worshippers point out that they would
be at a disadvantage in such a mediation because their faith
has no representative in the Council.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
Each Successor State has its own share of tales of
lost or buried treasure from the Star League era. These
stories are fueled by old videos of the huge, glittering
cities whose opulence is only a memory today. Popular
culture is filled with myths about hidden treasure and
worlds untouched by the seven centuries of strife.
One of the more popular legends concerns the 25th Heavy
Assault Regiment. Stationed on Trolloc Prime, then the limit of
the Tamar Pact, the unit was the first casualty of the First
Succession War. Commanded by Colonel Jerico Marsden, one
of the last descendants of Alistair Marsden, the regiment
disobeyed an order to retreat and instead made a stand on the
high promontory overlooking the capital city. In ferocious battles
that lasted five days and nights, the 25th was wiped out, but not
before slowing the advance of Lord Kurita’s force long enough
to ensure the orderly withdrawal of Commonwealth forces.
Since then, many a Commonwealth soldier claims to have
encountered the specter of one of the 25th’s MechWarriors just
before embarking on a mission against the Draconis Combine.
These ghosts usually appear with their ‘Mechs, and their thumbsup gestures are an omen of good luck. Not one unit has failed a
mission after seeing the ghosts of the 25th Heavy Assault
Regiment.
Another myth concerns an abandoned Star League facility
hidden somewhere within the veils of the Dark Nebula. An
automated shipyard, it was supposedly left running by departing
Star League forces, and so continues to churn out JumpShips
and DropShips to this day. It is also said that this shipyard was
the storage facility for all the useless jewelry, gold, and wealth of
Star League soldiers and their families. This myth has sent more
than one adventurer to his death among the treacheries of the
Nebula.
The Omen of the TriStar is another popular legend. The
myth states that if three stars suddenly nova in the form of an
equilateral triangle above Government House in Tharkad City,
General Kerensky, along with the rightful First Lord, will appear
within the year. The returning General and First Lord will,
according to this myth, stop on Tharkad and acknowledge the
Lyran Commonwealth as the only Successor State to have kept
the honor of the Star League through the wars.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
The Lyran peoples are by nature a practical,
skeptical lot, which is why the newer religions have not
made much dent. The Lyrans would more likely be
converted by a business-like discussion of how the
religion would benefit them than by blatant proselytizing.
For the same reason, it is unlikely that anyone, the Archon
included, could sway the citizens through religious pressure.
The Lyrans are as self-confident as they are practical, with
a strong faith in their current political system. The legend of
General Kerensky’s arrival in the Commonwealth is a good
example.
Finally, the great diversity of religions has not prevented
confrontation between beliefs. As much as the Commonwealth
has done to promote religious tolerance, there is always the
possibility that religious confrontation could lead to a major
conflict.
As mentioned previously, this writer grew up in the
Commonwealth. Before conversion to the ways of the ComStar,
I was Gerald Steiner-Nelson, the bastard son of a minor branch
of the Steiner family.
Katrina Elizabeth Steiner, the 29th Archon of the Lyran
Commonwealth, commander of the LCAF, and Duchess of Tharkad, is
shown here in her field uniform. A stern and beautiful woman of exceptional
intelligence, she has brought the more than 300 worlds of the Lyran
Commonwealth into a new and potentially powerful era.
MILITARY FORCES
It is difficult, at first observation, to understand why the Lyran
Commonwealth is not the pre-eminent military power among
the Successor States. In this era when wars are fought for every
available shred of technology as well as territory, the side holding
the most powerful equipment should, it seems, easily vanquish
the opposition.
Victory in war is not simply a question of who has the greater
firepower, however, but of which side is best able to exploit its
assets, and has the best planning and leadership. An historian
viewing the parade of bungling, inexperienced, unqualified
Steiner military commanders would have to conclude that only
its economic strength has kept the Commonwealth alive through
the depths of the Succession Wars.
The troubles of the Lyran Military can be summed up by two
ancient sayings: ‘Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians’ and
‘War is not a tea party’. Early in its history, the Lyran
Commonwealth created the title ‘Social General’ for the many
important personages who had no other official title. Soon these
powerful Social Generals had decided that, as ‘generals’, they
should wear military regalia and mingle with the real military.
Having no military experience beyond possibly a few years of
service in a local militia, these ‘generals’ had no concept either
of tactics or of planning. Instead, they ‘played soldier’ (while the
experienced officers grumbled) planning parades and designing
elaborate and impractical uniforms. Soon, several crack units
were reduced to formation marching for special occasions, their
‘Mechs polished and brightly painted for show. Genuine military
men were forced to compete in the social arena, in order to curry
favor and maintain their positions.
The influx of Social Generals and the bestowal of promotions
as if they were so many party favors quickly resulted in a topheavy military structure. Too many officers were seeking
commands, and assignment was a matter of who, not what, one
knew. Good officers who were not recognized for their
achievements lost heart and, their loyalty shaken, many officers
left the Lyran forces to pursue mercenary careers, often taking
their best soldiers with them. The body of regular soldiers saw
the disarray about them. If an infantryman who has been serving
just six months thinks he knows more about tactics and strategy
than the dandy commanding him, morale sinks to unbearable
lows. If the trooper is correct in this assumption, the armed forces
are in grave trouble.
Katrina Steiner and several of her predecessors have been
taking steps to improve the training and caliber of the Lyran
Armed Forces, but it could take years to clear out the worthless
brass and solve the bickering in the upper echelons. The alliance
of the Commonwealth and Federated Suns forces may provide
the kick in the pants the Lyran forces need to straighten out.
The term ‘top heavy’ also covers the major problem in Lyran
equipment. It is not that the ‘Mechs themselves are faulty, but
that the Lyran forces have a disproportionate number of heavy
‘Mechs. Because of that, they cannot compete well in situations
calling for speed and maneuverability.
This problem is partly a result of geography and partly of
economics. In the days of Star League, Lyran factories excelled
at turning out large ‘Mechs, and so most of their contracts were
for heavy fighting machines. When the Star League dissolved,
the Lyran Commonwealth still had the capability to turn out great
numbers of ‘Mechs, almost exclusively large ones. Lyran military
strategy was designed around this lopsided force for years, until
newer officers, not remembering why the forces were so shaped,
began to think large ‘Mechs were simply the only ones worth
having. Even when the Commonwealth developed the capability
of manufacturing smaller ‘Mechs, the top officers did not order
them, and had those factories convert to making heavy ‘Mechs.
This predominance of heavy ‘Mechs meant that Steiner units
often had only one thing in their favor-brute force. The current
high command recognizes the usefulness of mixed ‘Mech forces,
but lacking enough smaller ‘Mechs, they must still often plan
around this unfortunate handicap.
Despite these drawbacks, the Lyran Commonwealth Armed
Forces still stand out among the armies of the Succession Wars.
With 75 ‘Mech regiments, House Steiner ranks third in numbers,
with the Federated Suns first and the Draconis Combine second.
The Commonwealth’s powerful economy makes its armies the
best equipped overall. Reforms in the command structure are
producing a noticeable improvement in leadership, and the
armed forces will undoubtedly benefit from the infusion of new
ideas and equipment brought by the alliance between House
Steiner and House Davion. The LCAF is on the brink of shaking
off its historic burdens, and asserting its full might.
UNIFORMS IN THE LCAF
The purpose of military uniforms is threefold. The first is to
distinguish members of the armed services from civilians. The
second is to foster pride of service and esprit de corps. The final
purpose is to provide a means of readily identifying units during
combat and for distinguishing superiors from subordinates and
friends from foes. Uniforms in most militaries are further divided
into two separate classes: those designed to be worn into battle
and those designed for special occasions.
The duty uniforms of the many services in the LCAF often
reflect function before form. The garb of a MechWarrior, for
example, is completely different from that of an infantryman
because the former’s job is different from any other in the military.
This tendency to tailor what a soldier wears to his role in combat
diminishes the casual observer’s ability to tell to which Successor
State army a soldier belongs. The following notes apply to House
Steiner forces and should be helpful in distinguishing its soldiers
from one another.
—
SENIOR
OFFICER
When a senior officer intends to take an active,
fighting role in battle, he wears the battle dress appropriate
to his expertise, along with red markings that identity him
as a senior officer. If the officer will not be taking an active
role in a battle, he wears the Senior Officer Field Uniform.
This consists of a grey shirt with cuffs edged in a red
stripe. The shirt is made of a heavy but comfortable wool from
the fleece of Tharkan gazelles or sheep. The pants are a light
grey material and are striped in red down the outer sides of the
trouser legs. To prevent wear and tear on the uniform, black
pads are sewn to the knees of the pants and similar pads are
sewn on the shirt elbows. Almost every field uniform in the
Commonwealth military has these pads. The standard-issue
boots stop just below the knee pads.
Over the shirt, senior officers usually wear a chestplate and
backplate joined by an epaulet and collar arrangement, which
is known as an Armored Jack. The Jack is made from a light,
supple leather dyed the same grey green of the trousers. Thin
sheets of BattleMech armor are sewn onto the back of the leather
to help protect the wearer.
On the epaulets of the Jack is the Steiner Fist in black metal.
The rank insignia is sewn onto a rectangle of red fabric on both
sides of the stiff, upright collar. The rank of the officer also shows
on the front of the cap that most officers wear (with some
exception among the females, many of whom prefer to wear a
red headband). Down the front of the Jack, many of the more
vain senior officers wear their campaign bars. Each metal bar
represents either the successful defense of a Commonwealth
world or participation in a major offensive. Though senior officers
are entitled to carry a riding crop, in deference to an ancient
military tradition, most forego the honor.
If the officer is commander of a fighting unit, he wears a
looping braid from the epaulet on his right shoulder. The color of
the braid tells at which front the officer is currently stationed.
Yellow denotes the Periphery front; red means the officer is from
the Kurita front; purple refers to the Marik front; and white indicates
the Lyran interior. For semi-formal occasions, a second braid is
worn from the left shoulder. This braid, made from a metallic,
shiny rope, identifies the wearer’s branch of service.
The broad sash worn around the officer’s waist and beneath
the pistol belt also yields valuable clues. The sashes started out
the same color as the Jack, but about 300 years ago, officers
began wearing sashes dyed in the colors of their military
academy. The sash became known as the School Rag and is
now a tradition that has transferred over to the formal
dress uniforms. Though some officers refuse to wear the
school rag because it is still unauthorized by the dress
code, most Commonwealth officers do. A blue sash
means that the wearer graduated from the Nagelring on
Tharkad. A dark green sash means the officer is a
graduate from Sanglamore on Skye. A black sash means
a graduate from the War College on Tamar. These are the colors
of the three largest academies.
MECHWARRIORS
The battle dress of MechWarriors from House Steiner is
fairly typical of that used throughout the Inner Sphere. The only
noticeable difference is the neurohelmet. Constructed using
superior Commonwealth technology, the LCAF version is smaller
and fits more snugly to the head than those used by other States.
To reduce the helmet’s size, the Steiner version uses
balance feedback transmitters instead of the low-frequency alpha
transmitters of other House neurohelmets. Balance feedback
transmitters are set in the rear of the helmet, and communicate
the balance and position of the ‘Mech directly into the warrior’s
brain. To ensure proper contact of the transmitters against the
MechWarrior’s scalp, he must shave part of his head. While
some balk at this and insist on wearing the old-style helmets,
most comply. When off-duty, some Steiner MechWarriors wear
hairpieces, while others simply leave the bald spot exposed.
Some even enlarge the shaved area as a symbol of their
profession. (See illustrations of Duke Brewer and ‘The Mountain’
Krankow of Hesperus Industries in Socioeconomics.)
As most MechWarriors wear as little clothing as possible
when piloting a ‘Mech in combat, rank insignia means little to
them. Instead, MechWarriors of House Steiner wear certain colors
of T-shirt and shorts to show rank. Blue shirt and shorts means
that the pilot is a junior officer, while a red shirt and shorts mean
he is a senior officer. House Steiner MechWarriors are issued a
laser pistol and a throwing knife, which are usually worn in an
ankle holster that straps to the outside of one of their boots.
FIGHTER PILOTS
Steiner AeroSpace Pilots wear a flight suit considerably
more complex than those of their counterparts in other realms.
Unfortunately for the LCAF, this flight suit is prone to breakdowns
that have resulted in several aborted missions and deaths.
Commonwealth Armed Forces, divided up
among 25 ranks. There are ten ranks for
The system of ranks used by the Lyran enlisted men and noncommissioned
Commonwealth is an adaptation of that officers, four ranks to denote warrant
used in the Federal Republic of Germany officers, and four ranks reserved for the
during the 20th and 21st centuries. The junior officers. The remaining seven are
Commonwealth ranks came about with the used to rank the senior officers.
The insignia of all ranks (except for
Brandenberg Edicts of 2413, handed down
by Archon Katherine Steiner. These edicts senior officers) are based on symbolic
abolished the inefficient Commonwealth depictions of arrowheads, spearheads,
Alliance Military and set about creating the and fletching. The origin of this system is
obscure, but some historians believe it
LCAF as it exists today.
About fifteen million men and women stems from the passion that pioneers on
are in active service in the Lyran Tharkad had for hunting deer and boar
using extremely primitive weapons.
RANKS IN THE LCAF
ENLISTED PERSONNEL
The raw recruits, those volunteering
for duty and those drafted on their 16th
birthdays, begin military life as Privates.
The symbol of their rank is called the
Narrow Arrow (or, sometimes, the Blunt
Point), represented by an arrow with a
single black line dividing it.
Privates through the rank of Sergeant
wear their insignia on the shoulder of the
uniform. Narrow Arrows and other types of
insignia stitched to uniforms are usually
Steiner Blue against a black rectangle. The
colors are reversed for dress uniforms.
The most unusual feature of the suit are the large,
almost ‘Mech-like boots. Inside each boot is the
mechanism that keeps the pilot from passing out during
high-g maneuvers. It does this by squeezing portions of
the pilot’s body and forcing blood into his brain. Each
boot is supposed to be capable of doing the whole job,
giving the pilot a margin of safety, but the boots have a
nasty history of simultaneous failure during combat. Also in the
boots are the computer interface systems. On the heel of each
one are five computer hook-ups, which the pilot connects to the
fighter’s computer via the fighter’s rudder controls. Most Steiner
pilots do not appreciate this time-consuming task. Some prefer
to use the emergency hook-up system on the left thigh of the
flight suits, even though it does not give the pilot total command
of the fighter’s computer abilities. The computer LCD notebook
is usually carded on the pilot’s right thigh.
Commonwealth pilots also wear an automatic medication
dispenser on their right arms. Pressing one of the three buttons
injects a predetermined dose of either a stimulant, an anesthetic,
or a blood coagulant.
The rank insignia is worn over the suit’s chest. The colored
striping across the chest also aids in determining rank. Unit
patches are usually worn on the left chest and on the sides of
the pilot’s helmet.
ARMORED VEHICLE CREWS
In the narrow confines of an armored vehicle, the crews
often experience even more discomfort than a MechWarrior in
his tiny cockpit. For this reason, House Steiner has developed a
uniform considerably thicker than that of any other service to
protect its armored vehicle personnel.
Each one wears a padded, motorman’s suit over the
standard grey-green combat fatigues. Nicknamed the ‘Red hot
rock-and-roll suit’ for its color and use, the padding protects the
wearer somewhat from flying shrapnel and against the tossing
about that usually accompanies a ride in a tank. Also incorporated
into the suit is a coolant system similar to that used by
MechWarriors, which gives relief from the heat and some
protection from fire. The plug-in for this is on the right side of
waist front, and connects to the vehicle’s coolant system to drain
off heat. Once unplugged, the suit has 15 minutes of cooling
ability before it shuts down.
Senior Corporal
The next advance in position is to the
rank of Senior Corporal. With it comes
Corporal
increased responsibilities and the
The next rank up, and the beginning beginning of intensive leadership under
of a soldier’s introduction to leadership, is the tutelage of a veteran Sergeant who tries
Private First Class
After about six months, the young Corporal. The symbol is the full Hunter’s to teach the critical importance of quick
soldier is promoted to Private First Class. Point, the razor-edge tip of the arrow that reactions. The insignia of Senior Corporal
The symbol of this rank is called a Half bow-hunters sometimes use in big game is the Hunter’s Point with a black triangle
hunts.
Hunters Point.
in its center.
Vehicle crews wear long gloves and boots made of
the same red, heat-resistant material. Their helmets
enclose the head completely and provide cooled air to
the wearer when the visor is lowered and locked. Unit
insignia is usually worn on the sides of the helmet.
INFANTRY
The LCAF infantry wear a standard field uniform, combat
vest, and a helmet. The standard field uniform comes in six colors:
white, black, Skye green, camouflage-vegetation, camouflageurban, and the standard grey-green. In addition to helping the
soldiers blend into their surroundings, the colors have a symbolic
use. Any of the three Royal Guards units in the Triad on Tharkad
wear a ceremonial white uniform. Guards at the Honor of Skye
are from a Skye Rangers regiment and wear uniforms in the
dark emerald green of Skye. In the Duke of Tamar’s palace, the
guards are from an Arcturan Guards unit and wear black
uniforms.
The infantryman wears a combat vest over his uniform. The
vest provides some protection to the wearer’s chest as well as
providing pockets for storing various items. The vest’s main
function is to provide a simple frame to which large and bulky
objects, such as a standard field pack or the battery of a laser
rifle, can be attached. With its ample supply of velcro strips,
hookbars, eyes, and straps, just about anything can be secured
to the vest. Worn around the waist is a belt with pouches for
carrying food, water, and spare ammo as well as any other objects
the soldier needs. The belt also supports a holster for the trooper’s
sidearm, which is usually a slug-throwing pistol.
The design of the infantryman’s helmet is effective. It has no
flat edges to catch laser beam fire and is covered with a layer of
shiny ablative material. An enemy’s laser bolt will usually either
ricochet off the helmet or be safely absorbed. Beneath the shiny
exterior is a thin layer of plastisteel, a synthetic material of great
strength and absorbency. Inside the helmet, there is plenty of
room for communication equipment, as well as a passive IR
device to provide night-sight for the soldier. For all the protection
it provides, the helmet is quite light.
Unit insignias have traditionally been riveted onto the sides
of the soldier’s helmet. Recent studies indicate that placing the
insignias there compromises the effectiveness of the helmet,
and so soldiers have begun placing their unit patches on the
sides of their backpack instead. The center panel of the helmets
Sergeant
The six grades of Sergeant form the
backbone of the Commonwealth military.
These are the noncommissioned officers,
experienced in leading men and fighting
battles. The unsung heroes of war,
Sergeants are the glue that binds troops
together and they also serve as the crucial
link between officers and the common
grunt. In the Steiner military, the rank
symbol of Sergeant is the Hunter’s Point
with a single black circle in its center.
are color-coded to the various units, which constitutes
an insignia.
White is for members of the Royal Guards. Blue
means the soldier is from either a Lyran Guards or Lyran
Regular unit. Green is the color for soldiers attached to a
Skye Rangers regiment. Pale grey means the soldier is
from an Arcturan Guards unit. Yellow is reserved for
infantry units attached to Winfield’s Brigade. Mercenary units
usually wear unpainted, dull brown helmets.
SUPPORT PERSONNEL
Members of field artillery units and combat engineers wear
much the same uniform as infantrymen when in the field. Most
soldiers who do not normally see combat wear only the standard
grey-green field uniforms.
Warrant Officers, in keeping with their midway status
between noncommissioned officers and enlisted officers, wear
the accoutrements of both on their uniforms. Their rank insignia
appears on the collars of their black-ribbed sweaters. Their caps
have the purple-red piping of a senior officer, but their trouser
legs have blue striping down the sides.
Because their technical expertise often involves danger
from hot pieces of metal or electricity, Warrant Officers wear a
jacket made from heat and electricity-resistant material. On the
jacket’s left chest is a symbol depicting the wearer’s field of
expertise. Warrant Officers assigned to JumpShips or DropShips
have their jackets altered to allow a helmet to be attached. This
helmet is used in emergencies and provides the wearer with
oxygen until the danger passes.
All Warrant Officers are trained in the use of sophisticated
computers and often carry portable computers attached by velcro
strips to their shoulders or their belts.
The assistant technicians wear the same ribbed shirt, but in
a purple color to identity them as assistants. Assistant technicians
also wear an armless version of the warrant officer’s heat and
electricity-resistant jacket. Their rank insignia are worn on the
jacket sleeve. Both the assistants and Warrant Officers wear a
belt, to which many tools of their trade are attached.
Staff Sergeant
The next rank up is the Staff Sergeant.
As a sign of his rank, he wears what is
known as the Spear Point. A large,
downward-pointing triangle, it contains two
other triangles, one fitting inside the other.
Both smaller triangles share a common
edge along the upper side of the insignia.
Staff Sergeant officers up through
Hauptmann-Kommandant rank wear their
insignia on the upper arms of their uniform
and a blue stripe runs down the outside of
their trouser pants leg.
Sergeant Major
The next rank up, a Sergeant Major,
wears a short horizontal bar added above
his spear point insignia.
Leutnant Charles Helzer, of the 4th Arcturan Lancers, is
seen here in the standard combat gear of a Lyran infantryman.
The pale green of the Leutnant’s helmet means his regiment is
currently attached to a Skye Ranger ‘Mech unit. The inset figure
shows a member of a Tharkan Foot Regiment dressed in a
variation on the uniform of the Royal Guard at the Palace on
Tharkad.
Staff Sergeant Major
The Staff Sergeant Major’s spear point
has two horizontal bars added above his
spear point.
Senior Sergeant Major
Senior Sergeant Major is the highest
rank a non-commissioned officer can
achieve in the Steiner military. Only those
soldiers who make a career of the military
can advance from Private up to the rank of
Senior Sergeant Major. There is usually
one Senior Sergeant Major per regiment,
and his responsibility is to ensure the
discipline and well-being of all recruits and
other noncommissioned officers. His rank
insignia is known as the Tharkan Spear
Point, and shows his special importance.
This insignia is similar to the Staff Sergeant
Major’s, with two horizontal bars added
above the spear point. It also includes an
additional gold triangle across its center,
which is the Tharkan Spear Point.
DRESS UNIFORMS
For occasions of ceremonial importance, military
personnel are required to wear dress uniforms. Standard
dress in the Commonwealth military is a dress jacket,
white stirrup trousers, and black dress shoes.
The high-collared jacket has hidden velcro fasteners
down the front for an elegant and uncluttered look. The
jackets color depends on the wearer’s rank. Senior officers wear a light blue jacket,
while all other ranks wear the darker Steiner-blue jacket. Rank is shown on the
dress jacket with small silver insignia on the collar. Senior officers wear a single set
of pips and Steiner Crosses in the center of the collar just below the chin; all other
soldiers wee two sets of insignia slightly to either side of the collar’s center. On the
jacket cuff, there is a single red stripe for senior officers and a blue stripe for other
ranks.
Metal epaulets with the Steiner Fist in bright silver are worn on both shoulders.
The appropriate command and service braids attach to the epaulets. In accordance
with tradition, senior officers wear a school rag about their waist, with one end
hanging down the left leg. The soldiers of lesser rank do not wear school rags.
All ranks wear white stirrup dress pants, so named because of the band of
fabric that loops around the wearer’s foot to keep the leg of the pants straight and
neat. The trousers of all LCAF uniforms are stirrup-style, but the loop of the dress
pants is worn outside of the shoe, partially obscuring them. A red stripe down the
pants leg denotes a senior officer; all others wear trousers with a blue stripe.
Medals are worn on the left chest and arranged so that the more important
ones are closest to the center. Special awards, commendations, and badges of
military orders are placed either on the right chest, the lower left chest, or on ribbons
around the neck.
Senior officers in the Commonwealth military are notorious for personalizing
their dress uniforms, though many outside the court believe this is but a sign of the
corruption that riddles the military’s upper ranks. Some of the more common
variations are extravagant white or black cuffs on which the wearer’s rank insignia
are embroidered in gold or silver. Some officers may place their most prized medal
or award on the school rag. Another common practice among senior officers is to
have the school rag edged with stripes for any awards or distinctions the wearer
gathered while at the military academy. Recently, senior officers from the Federation
of Skye have taken to wearing an emerald green dress jacket.
Though she has not forbidden this passion for customizing dress uniforms, it
does not sit well with Katrina Steiner. Every time she meets a preening LeutnantColonel in his latest attempt at military fashion, her urge to clear away all the dead
wood among her senior officers grows stronger. So far, though, her only response
has been to wear a dress uniform of her own that is completely devoid of epaulets,
braid, medals, school rag, or any other accoutrement. Nor are there any stripes
about the cuff or on her dress pants. She does not even wear the insignia of he rank.
The Archon’s regal beauty combines with the severity of her dress uniform to
make these senior officers look foolish in their finery. Pompous idiots that they are,
most of these officers are completely unaware of either the Archon’ implied
disapproval or how their vanity betrays them.
WARRANT OFFICERS
There are four grades of Warrant
Officer in the LCAF. These ranks are
reserved for scientific and mechanical
specialists such as technicians, engineers,
computer interfaces, and sail-riggers. The
Warrant Officer’s insignia consists of a
series of horizontal bars in blue and black
patterns called Fletching.
A Warrant Officer wears one fletching
bar on the collar or shoulder of his uniform.
A Warrant Officer First Class wears two
fletching bars. Senior Warrant Officers wear
three fletching bars. Chief Warrant Officers,
the highest rank among technical experts,
wear four fletching bars. All Warrant
Officers lie somewhere between
commissioned officers and noncommissioned officers in rank and pay. A
Warrant Officer’s authority is confined to
his field of expertise and does not extend
to the command of soldiers in other
situations such as combat.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE LCAF
The LCAF is a complex bureaucracy. To achieve the
monumental military tasks of the Lyran Commonwealth,
the Steiner armed forces are divided into 16 departments,
each with its own specialized function and trained
personnel. These departments must operate with
considerable initiative and self-sufficiency to ensure that the
combat units in the field receive both the proper supplies and
the crucial information they need to fight effectively.
MILITARY EDUCATION
The Military Education Department is responsible for
training the millions of recruits who enter House Steiner’s
thousands of boot camps throughout the realm. This training
consists of a rigorous four-month ordeal that strips them of
civilization’s veneer to make them think like soldiers. They must
learn to kill using a wide variety of weapons, and they must
become disciplined enough to follow orders in the face of certain
death. Without this training, no recruit would survive his first
battle.
After boot camp, the new soldiers receive an additional six
months of advanced training in specialties such as operating an
armored vehicle, combat engineering, or ‘Mech maintenance.
Officer training is discussed later in this report. Commander of
Military Education is General of the Armies Yumiko Shakuma.
THE REP-DEP CORPS
The job of the Replacement Depot Corps is to be sure that
units are kept at full strength. Using its own fleet of transports,
the Rep-Dep Corps delivers recruits to Rep-Depots scattered
across the Commonwealth. Each Theater of Operations has at
least four Rep-Depots close to the front, which allows for the
quick distribution of new soldiers to depleted units. If necessary,
the Rep-Dep Corps will ferry the replacements directly to the
needy units. Commander of the Rep-Dep Corps is HauptmannGeneral Delaware Simms, Graf of New Auckland.
THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL’S OFFICE
This office is charged with administering a fair and unbiased
code of laws for military personnel. Though soldiers must, by
necessity, give up some of their liberties, they retain basic rights
such as representation by legal counsel if accused of a crime. It
is the JAG’s responsibility to see that these rights are protected.
The JAG is also responsible for the administration of planets
whose populace is deemed dangerous and rebellious-worlds
recently captured from an enemy, for example. In such cases,
the JAG appoints a Military Governor. In coordination with other
departments of the Steiner government, the governor attempts
to create a political atmosphere that will win cooperation
of the people. The current JAG is Kommandant-General
Patrick Simons, the Baron von Gresning.
THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS
The vital responsibility for supplying the entire LCAF
with proper material and equipment lies with the
Quartermaster Corps. In some ways, this department does for
guns and ammunition what Military Education does for recruits.
Both must go to great pains to ensure they always have enough
raw material and that the standard of their products does not fall
below a certain level. The Quartermaster Corps is intimately tied
to the military industries of the realm. It is not at industry’s mercy,
though, because the Archon empowers the department to punish
firms who renege on their contracts or supply shoddy goods to
the LCAF. The considerable temptations created by the constant
stream of money and supplies passing through the hands of its
officials has led to a strong whiff of corruption surrounding the
Quartermaster Corps. The newly appointed commander of the
Corps, General Walter Baker-Steiner, is a distant relation of
Katrina, who has ordered him to clean up the department once
and for all.
TRANSPORT DIVISION
Assuring that all men and material arrive at their appointed
stations with a minimum of confusion and a maximum of speed
is the province of the Transport Division. To accomplish this task,
Transport controls the majority of freighters and non-combat
JumpShips in the LCAF. The Transport Division is currently under
the command of Admiral Brently Timms.
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Responsibility for gathering information about the enemy
lies with Military Intelligence. This intelligence ranges from troop
strength to knowledge of the personal quirks of enemy
commanders to evaluation of the expertise of enemy technicians.
Information gathered about the enemy is processed in four
regional centers. Bolan is the location of the Intelligence Center
that scrutinizes the Free Worlds League. Pandora is the location
of the M.I. center that monitors the Draconis Combine. The center
for intelligence-gathering in the Periphery is based on Virtue.
The largest center of Military Intelligence is located within Asgard
on Tharkad, and is currently headed by General Holger Danske,
Landgrave of Elsinore on Relviff.
Leutnant
The grade of Leutnant is slightly
Junior officers assigned to fighting different in the LCAF than in other
units are the battlefield leaders of an army. militaries. An LCAF Leutnant has not yet
They are the ones who see all the wasteful won a commission, and is therefore not
uselessness of war, the ones daily formally an officer. The rank provides a
acquainted with the best and worst that testing period, particularly in ‘Mech units,
humanity has to offer. Often quite young, during which the soldier’s leadership and
they are also the ones burdened with the technical skills are judged. Graduates of
majority of live-or-die decisions.
Commonwealth military academies enter
the LCAF at this rank.
Leutnants are often addressed
according to their job (‘MechWarrior’,
‘Pilot’, or ‘Gunner’, for example) instead of
JUNIOR OFFICERS
their rank. Many will remain at this level for
the rest of their careers. The more ambitious
or capable Leutnants are soon given
temporary command of a lance or platoon
to further test their leadership skills. The
Leutnant wears a spear point similar to that
of a Staff Sergeant, but with the smallest
triangle blackened.
THE STRATEGIES AND TACTICS DIVISION
Strategies and Tactics is the think-tank of the Steiner
armed forces, using some of the most sophisticated
computers in the Commonwealth to mull over data
gathered by Military Intelligence. Over the years,
Strategies and Tactics has proven itself quite effective.
Though there have been a few glaring errors, the
department has shown itself to be quite effective over the years.
After analyzing the data on hand, strategies and tactics has
been able on a number of occasions to divine what the enemy’s
next move might be. Kommandant-General Winthrop Yarlows
currently heads up the Strategy and Tactics Division.
THE COMMONWEALTH NAVY
The Steiner Navy consists of all the combat JumpShips
used to move men and equipment to and from the fight. Within
this branch of the military, there are subdepartments responsible
for supplying and maintaining the rare delicate JumpShips and
the pudgy, beweaponed DropShips. Though no longer able to
act independently, the Lyran Navy honors the glorious history of
Commonwealth warships such as LCS Nightwind, Granite,
Endeavor, and Invincible by maintaining many old Naval
traditions. Fleet Admiral Sharon Farragut is the present
commander of the Commonwealth Navy.
THE COMMONWEALTH AEROSPACE FORCE
The squadrons and wings of AeroSpace Fighters, their
pilots, and maintenance personnel make up the Lyran
AeroSpace Force. It is divided into three groups, whose Fighters
each have a different mission. Planetary Command directs Air
Wings on planetary garrison duty or system defense. Escort
Command commands units assigned to convoys of valuable
men and equipment. The Wings of Combat Command are active
with purely offensive duties. The AeroSpace Force is
commanded by General Armand Rabastens.
The color black has long symbolized
leadership in insignias of the Lyran
Commonwealth, a tradition whose roots
are in the reign of the first Steiner. In the
struggle to defend the Commonwealth
from a fierce invasion by House Kurita,
Archon Alistair Marsden, Katherine
Steiner’s first husband, was killed. Years
later, Katherine married Duke Deven
Reynolds, only to lose him to the war, too.
Though she never expressed her grief
publicly, Katherine Steiner wore black
throughout the rest of her reign. Black was
soon adopted into Commonwealth
insignias to honor the determination she
showed despite her double loss.
THE RESERVE CORPS
The Lyran Reserve Corps controls the military
equipment, supplies, and manpower held back from
active duty to provide a margin of safety in case of a
military catastrophe. This equipment in reserve is often
used and outdated, but it is kept at least in working order.
Personnel serving in Reserve units are either soldiers
retired from active duty or part-time soldiers not quite fit for the
rigors of continuous combat. The Lyran Reserve Corps includes
planetary garrisons, which must follow LCAF orders, even if it
means leaving their homeworld. Recent history, particularly the
infamous ‘Concentrated Weakness’ fiasco, has pointed out how
unwise it is to remove planetary garrisons, however. Under
normal circumstances, command of a planetary garrison falls to
the ranking officer or ranking nobleman present on the planet.
Overall command of the Reserves fails to Kommandant-General
Sharon Hellman, Baroness von Beckvale.
HOUSE TROOPS LIAISON
This branch of the Commonwealth military is empowered
with the administration and upkeep of the private military forces
of various noble families. Though Commonwealth law states
that all private forces are free and independent of the LCAF, the
Steiner family has always maintained strict control over all troops
in the realm. The House Troops Liaison acts as a buffer between
the LCAF and the private forces, allowing them at least the
illusion of independence. The present commander of the House
Troops Liaison is Kommandant-General Collin Jurgens, Baron
von Ruggles.
MERCENARY TROOPS LIAISON
The Mercenary Troops Liaison has the task of coordinating
House Steiner’s Regular Army and the many mercenary units in
House Steiner’s service. This includes paying them and also
supplying and equipping them, if the contract calls for it.
Mercenary Troops Liaison also tries to ensure that mercenary
units are given the same treatment as the other units of the
LCAF. There are many diplomats and negotiators in the
department, and their job is to improve House Steiner’s relations
with its mercenary units and to recruit additional units from other
realms. Kommandant-General Elizabeth Plath currently leads
the M.T. Liaison.
First Leutnant
If the soldier shows the necessary
leadership and tactical skills, he is then
promoted to first Leutnant. First Leutnants
receive a commission in the LCAF plus
permanent command of a lance or
equivalent combat unit. This rise in rank is
shown by a single horizontal blue bar
above the Leutnants spear point patch.
Hauptmann
A Hauptmann, or Captain, as they are
sometimes known to the public, is the
commander of a company. He is the last
officer that will consistently see battle on a
day-to-day basis. As a result, he is accorded
the greatest respect by the enlisted and
non-com officers. His insignia is similar to
the First Leutnant’s, except both interior
triangles are blackened to show his
increased importance.
THE COMMONWEALTH ARMY
Every unit involved in combat within a planet’s
atmosphere is a member of the Commonwealth Army,
which is subdivided into seven branches. With the
disappearance of the great interstellar warships, combat
between land forces has become the deciding factor in
all campaigns. It is little wonder that the Commonwealth
Army takes the lion’s share of the defense budget.
The Commonwealth BattleMech Corps is by far the most
important part of the Army and the entire LCAF: its units are the
cornerstones of defense as well as prime targets of attack. The
Armored Corps includes all other combat vehicles such as tanks,
hovercrafts, and wheeled vehicles. The Infantry Corps includes
the common grunts, Jump Troops, Mechanized Infantry, and
Special Forces units. The Artillery Corps controls the Long Tom
and Sniper artillery, as well as the smaller artillery pieces. The
Combat Engineer Corps is in charge of warfare’s many tasks of
both construction and destruction, from laying mines to erecting
bridges. The Army also has its own Supply Service, which shuttles
munitions and equipment from cargo ships and makes certain
the cargo is properly dispersed to the many ground units.
Assisting in this supply work is the Army’s Transportation Service.
Commander of the Army is General of the Armies Edward
Regis, Duke of Lyons.
THE COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL CORPS
The Medical Corps has the difficult task of attempting to
provide care to any soldier in the LCAF who needs it. From the
medic slogging through the mud with a grunt unit to the surgeon
at a hospital on a distant world, all are bound by their profession
to provide the best possible medical attention at their command.
MASH units, Evac-Units, Hospital DropShips, Hospital
JumpShips, Orbiting Hospitals, and Rehabilitation Bases are
all part of this effort to care for the wounded, the enemy’s as well
as the Lyrans’ own. The LCAF is one of the few remaining
militaries that still respects the ancient Geneva Code of Wars.
For that reason, its officers cannot interfere with the treatment of
an enemy soldier, nor can they order a doctor or nurse to do
anything against their medical judgment. The commander of the
Medical Corps is Doctor Trysal Helveki, Leutnant-General and
Graf of Teakvalley.
Kommandant
Kommandants are usually chosen
from among battalion commanders for their
mental skills in such areas as tactics or
logistics. The grade is represented by a
Hauptmann’s spear point with a single
horizontal bar above it.
THE ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION
The Administrative Section of the LCAF is a huge
bureaucracy created to handle the reams of military
paperwork. In size, only the immense LCCS can
challenge it. The Administrative Section must attempt to
keep track of every soldier, every side of beef, every
lower descending columnar left thigh myomer clip of a
Griffin BattleMech, and anything else needed to keep the military
running. Enmeshed in its vast bureaucracy, Administrative has
managed to make some embarrassing blunders, including
simply forgetting the existence of major supply caches that then
sit abandoned in some warehouse somewhere like a legendary
chest of treasure.
It is not surprising that many greedy men and women have
been caught trying to stuff their pockets from the flow of valuable
supplies and money that pass through their hands. What is
amazing is that the Administrative Section manages to do its job
despite the corruption, and has done so for the past six centuries.
The current head of the Administrative Section is HauptmannGeneral Janet Page-Ripley.
THE HIGH COMMAND
The pinnacle of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces is
the high command, whose core is the Generals of the Armies. In
addition, there are the leaders of the sixteen services, the
commanders of the nine Theaters of Operations, and four
commanders of the Military Districts.
Throughout the history of the Lyran Commonwealth, the
Archon has been leader of the high command. With characteristic
Steiner intelligence, Katrina and the high command map out the
military future of their House. Using the sophisticated computer
systems of the Triad or the SteinerSchloss, the high command
studies detailed battle maps of every planet and every battlefield.
Though all members are free to disagree with the Archon by
offering their own plans, the final decision and responsibility
ultimately lies with the ruler of the realm.
Hauptmann-Kommandant
The rank of Hauptmann-Kommandant
is usually reserved for the senior battalion
commander in a regiment. This officer’s
responsibilities are to ensure that the
regiment fully understands the orders of
his Colonel and that the Colonel and his
staff are fully aware of the situation on the
battlefield. The Hauptmann-Kommandant
wears an all-black spear point on his
sleeves. This is the last rank that uses a
sleeve insignia.
DEPLOYMENT OF LCAF FORCES
Experience has taught the Steiner military
commanders that the best way to respond to enemy
attacks is to divide up their vast realm into 13 sections,
each with its own defenders. First, there are the four
Districts, all lying with the borders of the Commonwealth.
To defend each district, four regiments are usually stationed in
and around key worlds in that district.
The nine Theaters of Operations form the bulwark of House
Steiner’s defense against its enemies. These Theaters of
Operations lie along the borders with the Free Worlds League,
the Draconis Combine, and the Periphery. Each one averages
about 30 parsecs in length and is 18 parsecs deep, with at least
five ‘Mech regiments concentrated within it. These Theaters are
named after the location of the commanding officer’s
headquarters.
Along the border with the Draconis Combine, the
three Theaters of Operations are Trellshire Theater, Tamar
Theater, and Ryde Theater. Along the border with the
Free Worlds League, they are Wyatt Theater, Ford Theater,
and Cavanaugh Theater. Along the Periphery, the
theaters are considerably larger than those along the
other borders. The Periphery theaters are Timbuktu
Theater, Main Street Theater, and Bone Theater.
The Unit Deployment Table details the current deployment
of Commonwealth forces among the theaters and districts. It
also names the commanding officer and aide of the region, as
well as the names of most of the regimental commanders. The
loyalty of the regiment to the Archon and the Commonwealth is
also noted. The Homeworld column lists the location of the
regiments headquarters, though its elements may be dispersed
to surrounding worlds.
UNIT DEPLOYMENT TABLE
(as of 3025)
Trellshire Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
Winfield’s Brigade
Elite
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Davis Winfield)
(2 battalions)
30th Lyran Guard
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Edward Nichols)
25th Arcturan Guards
Regular
Reliable
4th Donegal Guards
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Gilda Felra)
1st Lyran Regulars
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Ostola Stellwar)
3rd Lyran Regulars
Regular
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Jeffreys Saracen)
24th Arcturan Guards
Regular
Reliable
6 regiments, 2 battalions
C.O.: General Jerry Troka, Margrave of Trellshire
Aide: Kommandant-General Kevin Dranby
Homeworld
Winfield
Icar
Vulcan
Chateau
Romulus
Planting
Dell
Tamar Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
10th Lyran Guards
Veteran
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Frederick Steiner, Duke of Duran)
3rd Donegal Guards
Elite
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Walter Lestrade)
4th Lyran Regulars
Regular
Reliable
22nd Skye Rangers
Green
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Ivan Petroff)
19th Arcturan Guards
Green
Questionable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Yvonne Deltra)
23rd Arcturan Guards
Veteran
Reliable
Hansen’s Roughriders
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Gerhardt Hansen)
8th Donegal Guards
Veteran
Reliable
Waco Rangers
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Wayne Waco)
26th Lyran Guards
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Woodruff Patterson)
Homeworld
Meachem
Menkent
Menkent
Fatima
Rasalgethi
Carse
Suk II
Severn
Bessarabia
Tamar
10 regiments
C.O.: General Nondi Steiner, Margrave of Tamar Theater and
Duchess of Gallery
Aide: Kommandant-General Mitch Felspar
Leutnant-Colonel
Leutnant-Colonel is the lowest rank
The remaining ranks form the senior among senior officers. As a regiment’s
officer grades. Charged with the weighty second-in-command, he is in charge of
task of preventing any threats to the realm, information-gathering as well as ensuring
senior officers must often make decisions that the regiment is properly supplied and
that could result in the deaths of countless equipped. If the battle is particularly
young men and women. Those senior difficult, the Leutnant-Colonel will
officers not directly involved in combat must sometimes be given the command of
oversee equally important tasks such as certain crucial regimental Units. The
ensuring the proper flow of supplies or insignia of the Leutnant-Colonel is a single
coordinating the efforts of units light years silver pip, an elongated diamond-shaped
distant.
piece of metal worn on the collar of field
uniforms.
SENIOR OFFICERS
Colonel
As commander of a regiment, the
Colonel must be expert in both tactics and
strategies, as well as seeing that his unit is
fed, clothed, and properly equipped.
Colonels of a ‘Mech regiment are often
assigned command of a world’s entire
defense. Though these combat officers can
win great glory and public admiration
when successful, their defeats can
sometimes mean the loss of an entire
Commonwealth planet, and so they also
have the most to lose. Colonels wear two
silver pips.
UNIT DEPLOYMENT TABLE
(as of 3025)
Continued
Ryde Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
17th Skye Rangers
Elite
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Bruce LaBlonc)
(House troop of Duke Aldo Lestrade)
4th Skye Rangers
Elite
Questionable
(C.O.: Hauptmann-Kommandant Kathleen Heany)
20th Arcturan Guards
Veteran
Reliable
Barrett’s Fusiliers
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Kommandant Alonzo Barrett)
(1 battalion)
7th Regiment, 12 Star Guards Green
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Thomas Scovy)
3rd Regiment, 12 Star Guards Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Hauptmann-General Mitch DeChavilier)
1st Regiment, 12 Star Guards Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Albert Rivers)
2nd Regiment, 12 Star Guards Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Robert Ohell)
Homeworld
Summer
Ryde
Port Moseby
Skondia
Lyons
Loyalty
Reliable
Homeworld
Ford
Reliable
Ford
Reliable
Pollux
Reliable
Reliable
Phecda III
Loric
Reliable
Loric
Lyons
New Earth
6 regiments
C.O.: General Stephen Neil, Margrave of Ford Theater
Aide: Kommandant-General Tyron Brickly
Ellison IV
7 regiments, 1 battalion
C.O.: General Jack Sphire, Margrave of Ryde Theater
Aide. Kommandant-General Rainer Poulin
Wyatt Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
11th Lyran Guards
Elite
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Sharon Byres)
17th Arcturan Guards
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Timothy Elgar)
10th Skye Rangers
Veteran
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Herb Enders)
The Hsien Hotheads
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Patricia Morgan)
5th Lyran Regulars
Regular
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Gustav von Buren)
32nd Lyran Guards
Green
Reliable
Ford Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
14th Lyran Guards
Veteran
(C.O.: Colonel Dale Barrows)
Gregg’s Long Striders
Green
(C.O.: Colonel Gregg Carr)
2nd Donegal Guards
Veteran
(C.O.: Colonel Caesar Steiner)
5th Donegal Guards
Green
Stealthy Tigers
Regular
(C.O. Colonel Bob Vermithrax)
7th Lyran Regulars
Green
(C.O.: Colonel Derrek Schmitz)
Homeworld
Wyatt
Wyatt
Cavanaugh Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
36th Lyran Guards
Regular
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Emily Stevens)
9th Lyran Regulars
Green
Reliable
6th Donegal Guards
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Seamus Kinnell)
10th Lyran Regulars
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Galway Ashbery)
Narhal’s Raiders
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-General William Matthews)
(2 regiments)
Homeworld
Cavanaugh
Cavanaugh
Denebola V
Denebola V
Poulsbo
Solaris
New Kyoto
Thorin
6 regiments
C.O.: General Iris Steiner. Margrave of Cavanaugh Theater and
Duchess of Furillo
Aide: Kommandant-General Mitchell Henders
Solaris
6 regiments
C.O.: General Victor Joss, Margrave of Wyatt Theater
Aide. Hauptmann-General Sarah Joss
Leutnant-General
Leutnant-Generals act as aides to the
commanders of the Commonwealth’s four
interior Military Districts. They are
responsible for marshalling all support
units as well as commanding reserve and
garrison units on planets in the district.
Leutnant-General is the lowest rank at
which an officer can assume command of
an entire service branch, such as Military
Intelligence or the Rep-Dep Corps. A
Leutnant-General wears an additional
third pip placed point down beneath the
other two pips, forming a “T” on the
wearer’s collar.
Hauptmann-General
The commanders of the four Military
Districts in the interior of the
Commonwealth are usually HauptmannGenerals. Their duty is to ensure the
protection of civilian, industrial, and military
targets against an enemy attack. It is also
their responsibility to blunt enemy
offensives long enough for the stronger
Theater forces to regroup and
counterattack. These officers wear four
pips, forming what has come to be known
as the First Steiner Cross.
Kommandant-General
Kommandant-General is the rank
given to the aide of a Margrave in one of
the Military Theaters running along the
borders of the Commonwealth.
Kommandant-Generals must see to it that
all the units in the theater are well supplied.
They also command reserve and garrison
units of every planet within the theater.
Kommandant-Generals wear the Second
Steiner Cross, which differs from the first
because of the addition of the Black Pearl.
(For the significance of the Black Pearl, see
page 63 in the History section.)
UNIT DEPLOYMENT TABLE
(as of 3025)
Continued
Timbuktu Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
11th Arcturan Guards
Green
(C.O.: Colonel Herbert Timmons)
7th Donegal Guards
Regular
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Maria Estaban)
8th Lyran Regulars
Green
The Knights of St. Cameron
Green
(C.O.: General Stan Gluck)
(2 regiments)
Loyalty
Reliable
Homeworld
Timbuktu
Reliable
Althastan
Reliable
Reliable
New India
Buena
5 regiments
C.O.: General Donald Groves, Margrave of Timbuktu Theater
Aide. Kommandant-General Richards Okidala
Main Street Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
15th Arcturan Guards
Regular
Questionable
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Ululo Vuthal)
Mobile Fire
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Quintin Moore)
10th Donegal Guards
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel George Donaldson)
Dragon’s Breath
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Pete Tale)
15th Lyran Regulars
Regular
Reliable
5 regiments
C.O.: General Phillip Gronv, Margrave of Main Street Theater
Aide. Hauptmann-General Isak Berrymann
General
General is the rank given to
commanders of the all-important Theaters
of Operations on the Lyran borders. These
Generals have the title of Margrave, but
this is a political title relating to function in
the Theater and not one permanently
bestowed on the officer. Generals are
usually the last officers that command
specific combat units. They wear the Third
Steiner Cross, which differs from the
second by the addition of an ‘orbit’, a disc
of silver, beneath the cross’s center.
Bone Theater
Unit Name
Experience Level
The Bad Dream
Veteran
(C.O.: Colonel William McPherson)
12th Donegal Guards
Green
(C.O.: Colonel Steven Zaks)
Grave Walkers
Regular
(C.O.: Colonel Dennis Merwin)
(2 regiments)
Blackhearts
Regular
(C.O.: Colonel Sandra Johnson)
8th Arcturan Guards
Green
Loyalty
Reliable
Reliable
Reliable
Homeworld
Newtown Square
Barcelona
Bone-Norman
Reliable
Anywhere
Reliable
Here
6 regiments
C.O.: General Marti Lyons, Margrave of Bone Theater
Aide: Kommandant-General Olaf Dinesen
Homeworld
Lost
Canal
Main Street
Winter
Hood IV
Military District 1 (Alarion)
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
19th Lyran Guard
Veteran
Reliable
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Danny Walters)
Always Faithful
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel Louise Pound)
17th Donegal Guard
Regular
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Tommy ‘Too Young’ Gahertty)
5th Lyran Regulars
Green
Reliable
Homeworld
Alarion
Alarion
Carlisle
Gypsum
4 regiments
C.O.: Hauptmann-General Mark Kostic
Aide: Leutnant-General Fay Nichols
General of the Armies
Except for the Archon, General of the
Armies is the highest rank in the LCAF. This
rank is reserved for the core of the high
command, who are the military’s most
senior and respected officers. Under the
Archon’s leadership, Generals of the
Armies shape and guide the
Commonwealth’s military strategy. Their
insignia is the Fourth Steiner Cross. This is
formed by adding a second orbit, made
from Tharkan obsidian, beneath the cross’s
center.
The Archon
The Archon is the Commander of the
LCAF, and so usually plays an active part
in the military and its actions. Most Archons
are well aware, too, that the army is as
much a bureaucracy as it is a fighting force,
which requires that they attend carefully to
the politics within the LCAF. The command
and rank of the Archon is shown by the
Final Steiner Cross. This insignia is made
distinct from those of senior officers by
dividing the four pips of the cross into
halves, and filling the space between them
with gold.
In some special circumstances, the
Archon may not be able to make vital
military decisions; in that case, the Pro Tem
carries out the task. As a mark of the highest
trust, the Archon allows the Commander
Pro Tem to wear the Final Steiner Cross
on his uniform. That way, all who see the
cross know that the wearer is in command
and that his decisions are backed by the
Archon’s full support and power.
UNIT DEPLOYMENT TABLE
(as of 3025)
Continued
Military District 2 (Coventry)
Unit Name
Experience Level
Loyalty
3rd Royal Guards
Elite
Fanatical
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Roman Steiner)
11th Donegal Guards
Green
Questionable
(C.O.: Colonel Jonathan Thurman)
14th Donegal Guards
Regular
Reliable
(C.O.: Colonel W. J. Hardy)
11th Lyran Regulars
Green
Reliable
Homeworld
Coventry
New Capetown
CMO 26
Australia
4 regiments
C.O.: Hauptmann-General Mona Fleury
Aide. Hauptmann-General Tatyana O’Timmons
Military District 3 (Hesperus)
Unit Name
Experience Level
6th Lyran Guards
Elite
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Daniel Voss-Steiner)
15th Lyran Guards
Elite
(C.O.: Colonel Rafferty Jefferson)
13th Donegal Guards
Green
The Filthy Lucre
Regular
(C.O.: Colonel Ashley Timson)
Loyalty
Reliable
Homeworld
Hesperus II
Reliable
Hesperus II
Reliable
Reliable
Furillo
Bolan
4 regiments
C.O.: Hauptmann-General Cliff Byas
Aide. Leutnant-General John Weldon
NAVAL VARIATIONS
Senior officers in the Steiner Navy use
titles traditional to that branch since the days
when navies sailed wind-swept seas. For the
ranks of Leutnant-Colonel and above, the
naval equivalents are as follows: LeutnantKaptain, Kaptain, Leutnant-Kommodore,
Kommodore, Hauptmann-Kommodore,
Admiral, and Fleet Admiral. The only real
difference between the insignia of the two
branches is the use of gold piping and stripes
on the uniforms of senior Naval officers.
Military District 4 (Tharkad)
Unit Name
Experience Level
1st Royal Guards
Regular
(C.O.: Archon Katrina Steiner)
2nd Royal Guards
Regular
(C.O.: Leutnant-General Christopher Malvin)
3rd Lyran Guards
Veteran
Richard’s Panzer Brigade
Veteran
(C.O.: Colonel Richard Whitman)
24th Lyran Guard
Green
(C.O.: Leutnant-Colonel Orpheus Thomas)
Cranston Snord’s Irregulars
Veteran
(C.O.: Captain Cranston Snord)
(1 company)
5 regiments. 1 company
C.O.: Hauptmann-General Francis Bergsma
Aide: Leutnant-General Dean Forney
Loyalty
Fanatical
Homeworld
Tharkad
Fanatical
Tharkad
Fanatical
Fanatical
Tharkad
Tharkad
Fanatical
Donegal
Fanatical
Clinton
TYPICAL COMMONWEALTH UNITS
The composition of the average Steiner unit is very
much like those in the other Successor States. Even here
in the prosperous, industrial Commonwealth, however,
the scarcity of working weaponry makes it near
impossible to create more than a few specialized units
based on specific weapons systems.
Light lances in the Commonwealth usually have at least
one COM-2D Commando BattleMech. Manufactured by Coventry
Metal Works, these Mechs are popular among MechWarriors
both for their capabilities and their reliability. They are fast
becoming as common as Stingers and Wasps in House Steiner’s
Light and Recon lances.
The LCAF has shown little interest in organizing Medium
lances, which is why Lyran units contain the usual hodgepodge
of Phoenix Hawks, Griffins, Shadow Hawks and less common
designs in the 35- to 55-ton range. It is unknown whether the
Steiner commanders will decide to incorporate the highly
specialized HCT-3T Hatchetmen into front-line units or to reserve
them for city garrison duties because of the ‘Mechs obvious
urban combat abilities.
According to ComStar operatives in the Commonwealth
military, there are new Davion-made DV-6M Dervish ‘Mechs now
appearing among Steiner units. It is assumed that their sudden
appearance is another example of the new alliance between
the two states at work.
Heavy lances, the backbone of Lyran ‘Mech regiments, have
no real philosophy behind their composition. All heavy units are
equipped with a wide variety of BattleMechs in the 60- to 75-ton
range. Many of these ‘Mechs are of Commonwealth manufacture
and are usually in near-peak fighting condition.
All Commonwealth assault lances are centered around the
ZEU-6S Zeus and AS7-D Atlas Assault ‘Mechs. The pride of the
LCAF, the Atlas and Zeus have proven the bane of many an
enemy that came up against their deadly combinations of
firepower.
The LCAF’s use of AeroSpace Fighters differs slightly from
that of other Successor States. Though groups of two fighters
are still-technically-assigned to every third ‘Mech lance as in the
old days, in practice, the Steiner commanders are more likely to
gather up the regiment’s fighters into one group. This Air Wing
usually consists of about 18 Fighters and their pilots. The
commander of an Air Wing is a Leutnant-Colonel, and is usually
assigned a newly made CHP-W5 Chippewa Fighter.
Air Wings have considerably more to do than merely
supplying air cover for the regiment. Aside from the duties usually
associated with a ‘Mech regiment (which the pilots call ‘Buddy
Duty’), Fighters have three other types of assignments.
Some Air Wings act as escort to protect vital convoys of
cargo JumpShips on their way to and from points. The pilots call
this ‘Dolphin Duty’ after the way these aquatic mammals from
Terra used to guide large ships as though protecting them. Other
Air Wings are assigned to protect a particular planet in concert
with the planet’s garrison. This duty is called Planetary Intercept,
or P.I. Duty. Other Air Wings are assigned to ‘Beehive Duty’,
otherwise known as protecting DropShips, particularly the
massive Overlords, during their combat runs.
The CHP-W5 Chippewa, LCR-R15 Lucifer, and the SYD21 Seydlitz AeroSpace Fighters are the mainstay of the
AeroSpace Corps of the LCAF.
Garrison units usually consist of infantry, armored,
and artillery regiments, whose personnel are mostly
native to the planet. There are usually only a few ‘Mech
lances that pull garrison duty on a world unless that
planet is strategically important. In such a case, special
BattleMech units are assigned to bolster the usual
regiments of the planet’s garrison. ‘Mech lances trained
to fight in the tight confines of a city, or lances trained for the
murky fights beneath the oceans and rivers are frequently
assigned to protect these important planets.
There is currently a movement within the LCAF to create
more mixed-arms units. This tendency probably began when
Lyran officers observed the example set by the Eridani Light
Horse, with its special Recon lances and support companies.
Several Commonwealth regiments now employ Recon lances
that are made up of two AeroSpace Fighters, a recon ‘Mech, and
one or two Packrat Patrol Vehicles. The performance of these
units, though not as successful as those of the Light Horse, has
encouraged the high command. Other mixed-arms units will
doubtless soon appear in the Steiner military.
On major offensives, each ‘Mech regiment is assigned at
least three regiments of infantry, armor, and artillery units. This
combined group of regiments is called a Combat Team and is
identified by the ‘Mech regiment’s name; thus, three infantry
regiments and the 36th Lyran Guards would be called the 36th
Lyran Combat Team. The commander of the ‘Mech regiment is
usually also commander of the whole Team, unless one of the
other regimental commanding officers far exceeds the ‘Mech
commander’s experience.
WEAPONS INDUSTRIES
Name: Defiance Industries
Plant Locations: Hesperus II, Furillo
CEO: Duke Greydon Brewer
Weaponry Manufactured at Hesperus II: ZEU-6S
Zeus, AS7-D Atlas, ARC-2R Archer, GRF-1N Griffin,
and the HCT-3F Hatchetman, Rommel/Patton Tanks, and
Manticore Tanks
Weaponry Manufactured at Furillo: ZEU-6S Zeus, WSP-1 A
Wasp, LCT-1V Locust
Notes: By far the largest BattleMech company still functioning in
the Inner Sphere, Defiance Industries is the foundation of the
Commonwealth’s military. When it started manufacturing the
feared Atlas ‘Mechs in 3012, it was the only manufacturer in the
Inner Sphere to do so, making House Steiner the only Successor
State able to field significant numbers of the behemoths. For
further information see the Socioeconomics section of this report.
Name: Coventry Metal Works
Plant Location: Coventry
CEO: Duke Simon Grantrel
Weaponry Manufactured: COM-2D Commando, VL-2T
Vulcan, PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk, FS9-H Firestarter, and the
STG-3R Stinger
Notes: This company has just recently been reorganized after
the Trellshire Scandal of ’12. Duke Grantel, a former MechWarrior,
is expected to make further changes such as reopening the
Coventry Research Facility on Alarion. At one time, it was the
equal of the R & D division of Coventry’s chief rival, Defiance
Industries.
Name: Bowie Industries
Plant Locations: Alarion, Carlisle
CEO: Duchess Natalie Vanderzham
Weaponry Manufactured at Alarion: CHP-W5 Chippewa
AeroSpace Fighter, Leopard and Union Class DropShips
Weaponry Manufactured at Carlisle: MAD-3R Marauder,
ARC-2R Archer, PKR-T5 Packrat Patrol Vehicles
Notes: Though originally located on the Kurita world of Dell,
Bowie Industries moved to Alarion at the start of the Succession
Wars. Bowie Industries is one of the few remaining manufacturers
of DropShips in the Inner Sphere, which made House Marik’s
attack against Alarion in 3006 particularly devastating. Only now,
nearly 20 years later, has the production of the two DropShip
designs resumed. In 3013, Bowie also reintroduced the
Chippewa, a very successful heavy fighter design.
Name: Olivetti Weaponry
Plant Location: Sudeten
CEO: Duke Michael Olivetti
Weaponry Manufactured: WHM-6R Warhammer, TDR-5S
Thunderbolt, Hunter Tanks, and J. Edgar Hovercraft
Notes: Olivetti Weaponry is the wonderchild of the century. It
was founded by Michael Olivetti, originally a factory foreman for
Defiance Industries, after he left that company in 2990. After
discovering the ruins of an old Star League facility on Sudeten,
Olivetti miraculously managed to get a working ‘Mech factory up
and running by 3005. Since that time, Olivetti Weaponry has
more than tripled in size.
Name: Lockheed/CBM Corporation
Plant Locations: Donegal, Tharkad, Gibbs
CEO: Duke Alan Day
Weaponry Manufactured at Donegal: LCF-R15 Lucifer,
SB-27 Sabre, CNT-N30 Centurion AeroSpace Fighters
Weaponry Manufactured at Tharkad: LTN-G15 Lighting,
HC-10 Hellcat AeroSpace Fighters
Weaponry Manufactured at Gibbs: EG-3 Eagle, TRB-D36
Thunderbird AeroSpace Fighters
Notes: The largest manufacturer of AeroSpace Fighters in the
Commonwealth, Lockheed/CBM has experienced a serious
crisis in recent months. When its Board of Directors was caught
embezzling huge sums of money, it sparked a company-wide
investigation by the Commonwealth Ethics in Trade Board.
Name: TharHes Industries
Plant Location: Tharkad
CEO: Landgrave Michael Wellby
Weaponry Manufactured: CRD-3R Crusader
Notes: A fairly new manufacturer of ‘Mechs, TharHes had long
been a manufacturer of laser and missile systems. When some
Crusaders manufactured by TharHes were found to be flawed,
the company had to recall the first 200 for a refitting of the left
rear reactor shielding panels.
Name: Shipil Company
Plant Location: Skye
CEO: Duke Simon DeGrange
Weaponry Manufactured: SYD-21 Seydlitz Fighter, and
Overlord DropShip
Notes: An ancient company whose roots pre-date the Star
League era, Shipil has only barely survived for the past 300
years. With all the time it must spend fighting off attacks by enemy
Houses and hostile takeover bids by other Commonwealth
industries, it is amazing that the company has time to manufacture
three Overlord DropShips a year.
Name: Trellshire Heavy Industries
Plant Location: Twycross I, Chahar
CEO: Duchess Yvonne Killa
Weaponry Manufactured on Twycross: STK-3F Stalker, BLR1G BattleMaster, RFL-3N Rifleman
Weaponry Manufactured on Chahar: Artillery pieces, personal
weapons, vibrabombs, and munitions.
Notes: This firm was on probation for a time because of its
involvement in the Trellshire scandal, but its probation was
recently lifted. Duchess Killa hopes to expand by building another
factory on the nearby world of Butler.
Name: Red Devil Industries
Plant Location: Pandora
CEO: Duke Hermann Greerson
Weaponry Manufactured: RFL-3N Rifleman, BLR-1G
BattleMaster, Condor Hovercraft, Centipede Scout Cars,
infantry weapons, and artillery systems
Notes: Long known as a wheeler-dealer company that operates
just this side of the law, Red Devil Industries is well-known in the
Lyran Commonwealth. Originally a technicians’ school and
private maintenance company, Red Devil diversified into weapon
systems manufacture, with its BattleMech production beginning
in the late 2900s.
MILITARY SUPPLIES
In addition to these major companies, there are many
others churning out parts and smaller pieces of equipment
for the military. The Lyran Commonwealth military is by
far the best equipped army in the Inner Sphere,
experiencing real shortages of only the ultra high-tech
equipment, such as battle computers and target
acquisition sensors. This is not to say that Lyran industries can
always produce enough spare parts for the military: there has
yet to be an army totally satisfied with its supply situation.
Occasional shortages of spare parts, especially for ‘Mechs and
Fighters produced outside the Commonwealth, do occur. The
bulk of spare parts are frequently diverted to where they are
needed most, leaving other areas, such as the Periphery,
chronically short on supplies.
The Commonwealth’s ability to repair equipment on the
field has always been good, if a bit bound in red tape. An
adequate supply of portable repair scaffolds and repair platforms
are available because the LCAF considers these as vital as
ammunition for any military operation. There are also enough
Ammunition Loaders, Coolant Trucks, Mobile HQs, and MASH
units to handle all but the worst disaster in any Steiner action.
It is the bureaucracy of the military that hampers the support
units. It does so by consistently botching matters; for example, it
once sent 80 left arm actuators for a ‘Mech but no right knee
actuators. When the bureaucrats throw a wrench into the works,
all that stands between disaster and success is the expert
training and ingenuity of House Steiner’s Technicians, Engineers,
and Mechanics.
MILITARY ACADEMIES
The purpose of a Commonwealth military academy
is to teach both the military sciences and leadership
skills. Testing for potential military aptitudes begins quite
early in every Lyran citizen’s life. Throughout childhood,
young Lyrans periodically take exams that measure their
mental and physical abilities. After graduation from third-level
schools, the student learns what military section the LCAF finds
him most suited.
If chosen for the more glamorous or demanding positions
requiring officer training, the student may enter one of the military
academies immediately or continue his general schooling. In
the latter case, he is expected to enroll in ROTC at the university
and then to serve an extended tour of duty upon completion of
his studies.
There are ten military academies in the Lyran
Commonwealth. Though some provide training in all types of
high-skill military positions, most tend to specialize. No matter
what their curriculum, all must give the potential officer a thorough
knowledge of military history. Archon Katherine Marsden Steiner,
an historian herself, realized the importance of learning from
the past, even from battles fought with primitive swords and
spears.
THE NAGELRING ON THARKAD
The oldest and most prestigious of the military academies
in the Commonwealth is the Nagelring. Named after a sword
used by an ancient German folk-hero, the academy was originally
an official Star League academy. When the Steiner house forces
took over after Star League personnel left the Inner Sphere,
they were surprised to find that many of the professors and
instructors had decided to stay on.
The Nagelring soon began producing trained officers in all
fields for the Commonwealth military. A sprawling university on
the Bremen continent of Tharkad, the academy has an extensive
variety of teaching aids such as Chameleon training ‘Mechs
and two-seat Jenny AeroSpace Fighters. The academy also
trains DropShip and JumpShip crews. The present head of the
academy is Hauptmann-General Beckley Winston-Steiner, Graf
of Fingall’s Fjord.
SANGLAMORE ON SKYE
THE FLIGHT ACADEMY OF THORIN
Also a former Star League academy, Sanglamore is the
twin of the Nagelring. During the House Kurita attempt to seize
the planet Skye, the academy was so damaged that it was no
longer able to train Naval officers. Since then, Sanglamore has
concentrated its efforts on producing the best MechWarriors
and Warrant Officers possible. Though officially a Commonwealth
academy, the school has a strong undercurrent of Federation
separatist sentiment, with many graduates actively seeking to
join the Skye Rangers. Whatever their political leanings, the
warriors Sanglamore produces are vital to the military. The Archon
is taking no chances, however, having assigned a good number
of LIC operatives on and off campus. The academy is headed by
Hauptmann-General Kevin Reilly.
Since its founding in 2832, the Flight Academy has been
producing excellent AeroSpace Fighter and DropShip pilots.
Having seen its share of war damage, the school currently looks
like an ugly conglomeration of half-built or half-destroyed
buildings sitting on the edge of its spaceport. Though the quality
of its instructors is excellent, the facilities can sustain only limited
enrolment, and there is not much hope for expansion in the near
future. This puts its continued existence in danger. The Flight
Academy has become the unofficial way-station for diplomats
traveling to and from the Commonwealth and Federated Suns.
Leutnant-General Ilysa Tullerman is the current commander of
the academy.
THE WAR COLLEGE OF TAMAR
Only recently reopened, the War College will not graduate
its first class of officers until 3028. The original school, another
former Star League facility, was brutally razed when House Kurita
attacked Tamar in 2915. Most of the students and teachers were
killed during their valiant defense of the planet. When the Steiner
army finally pushed the Kurita invaders out of Tamar three years
later, the reconstruction of the War College was postponed, then
forgotten, in the effort to reconstruct the planet. It was only after
Tamar historians brought pressure that reconstruction of the
academy finally began in 3017. Currently, the academy has
facilities only for training MechWarriors and ground combat
officers. The commander of the War College of Tamar is LeutnantGeneral Sydney Devero.
THE COVENTRY ACADEMY
A small school, the Coventry Academy provides training
only for MechWarriors. As it is located just outside the Coventry
Metal Works, many of school’s professors also work for the ‘Mech
factory. Leutnant-General Robert McGregory runs the Academy.
THE ROYAL NEW CAPETOWN MILITARY ACADEMY
This academy has caused the Commonwealth government
much trouble recently. Because the Royal Military Academy is
located on a world where racism still exists, House Steiner has
had to route potential officers of non-white races to other
academies on other worlds. This is both expensive and
inefficient, with the government having to transport young cadets
around the Commonwealth while classrooms in the Royal
Academy go half-filled and sometimes empty. Worse, the hatephilosophy works its evil on the impressionable young white
cadets who remain, and so the system is perpetuated. In
response, the Archon has appointed two new commanders for
the academy. One is Leutnant-General Nils Steiner-Davis. The
other, Leutnant-General Cynthia Franks, is an imposing black
woman descended from the famed Black Pearl. While this move
has alienated the academy from the rest of the planet, it has put
a lid on the hate-philosophy among the students. Recent terrorist
attacks aimed at the commanders and school have increased
the tension on the planet dramatically.
MEDALS AND DECORATIONS
THE BLACKJACK SCHOOL OF CONFLICT
The Blackjack School is the Lyran Commonwealth’s only
privately run military academy. It was founded to tutor those who
had failed the entrance exams at the other academies. If a
student can afford to enroll in the Blackjack School of Conflict,
he will get an education similar to that of the other military schools.
In addition to the standard courses, Blackjack also offers
unofficial courses that deal with the shadier side of military life. It
is said that going to Nagelring will ensure its graduates a glorious
warrior’s funeral, but going to Blackjack will ensure graduates a
long life and the ill-gotten wealth to enjoy it. Despite this, the
Commonwealth has made no move to clean up the school, for
the simple reason that its graduates are excellent soldiers. The
school is run by Katrina Bigelow, a former MechWarrior.
In time-honored fashion, the Lyran Commonwealth
honors its heroes with medals, ribbons, and pins. To honor
particularly successful regiments, it bestows banners,
streamers, and seals. Individuals can usually pin their
decorations to the collar or lapel of their civilian clothes
if they so desire.
In addition to awards from the greater Commonwealth
government, the Tamar Pact and Federation of Skye have their
own honors for soldiers who have shown bravery in their portion
of the realm. Most major awards also include an endowment of
land or money.
Among the numerous medals, commendations, and
campaign ribbons, the following are the most important.
THE COMMONWEALTH MEDAL OF HONOR
THE MILITARY ACADEMY OF SOMERSET
This small university is devoted to training only MechWarriors
and AeroSpace Fighters. It is commanded by Leutnant-General
Reginald Heathers.
The Commonwealth Medal of Honor is the highest award
the Commonwealth government can give to an individual. It
honors any soldier in the LCAF who, by his actions, somehow
snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. The medal is a large
silver disk with a single gold star upon it. It hangs from a gold bar
made of three separate pieces, each symbolizing one of the
three allied domains of the Commonwealth. Recent recipients
include Hauptmann Cyril Townshead, commander of an assault
company in the 1st Lyran Regulars. He singlehandedly took out
a Kurita pillbox that had cut down half of his unit during the
retaking of the planet Sevren. The Commonwealth Medal of
Honor has three grades: diamond clusters, gold oak leaf clusters,
and silver bars.
THE WAR COLLEGE OF BUENA
Opened only recently, in 3020, the War College of Buena
trains MechWarriors, but specializes in the teaching
Maintenance Sciences. It is commanded by Leutnant-General
Melissa Waverly.
THE HONOR OF SKYE
THE PANDORA COLLEGE OF MILITARY SCIENCES
Another small institute, Pandora currently can handle only
those cadets interested in becoming DropShip pilots. If the
ambitious Colonel Steven Merriam has his way, the school will
expand to include instruction in all military sciences. A possible
obstacle to these plans is the dismal state of the planet’s economy,
which is in no position to fund the academy.
The Duke of Skye awards this medal to any soldier who has
shown exceptional bravery while defending a planet within the
Federation. The medal depicts an ancient Scottish warrior
brandishing a claymore. It is made from gold and is worn on an
emerald green ribbon around the neck. The most recent recipient
of this medal was MechWarrior Mitchell Simons of the 17th Skye
Rangers, for his gallant defense of a group of civilians against a
Kurita lance during the battle for Alexandria in 3024.
THE ORDER OF TAMAR TIGERS
THE DRAGON SLAYER’S RIBBON
This medal differs from the previous two because it bestows
membership in an order of honored heroes. The badge is silver,
engraved with the regimental patch of the famed Tamar Tigers
set within a sunburst. It is usually worn separate from the other
medals. Some recipients wear the badge on their civilian clothes
for formal occasions. Currently, the Grand Officer of the Order of
Tamar Tigers is Katrina Steiner, who won the honor in 2997 for
her actions during the tenth battle for Hesperus II.
This is a unit commendation for a regiment that has
performed with exceptional skill against House Kurita. The long
light-blue ribbon shows the Kurita Crest. It is displayed on the
regiment’s banner alongside its campaign ribbons. The last
regiment to win this commendation was the 17th Skye Rangers.
THE EAGLE’S FEATHER
THE ORDER OF KATHERINE STEINER
This medal is reserved for AeroSpace Fighter, DropShip,
and JumpShip pilots who have distinguished themselves in
combat. The medal is a gold Steiner Fist set against a silver
propeller and worn on a blue ribbon.
The Eagle’s Feather is an actual black tail feather from the
rare Atreus Fighting Eagle, awarded to a regiment that has
performed with exceptional skill against House Marik. The Eridani
Light Horse was the most recent recipient of the award.
THE MCKENNSY GROUND-POUNDER’S MEDAL
Originally conceived as an award only for non-Mech ground
force members, over the years, it has been awarded so often to
ground force senior officers, and even ‘Mech officers, that it has
lost its value for officers. However, for enlisted men and
noncommissioned officers, receiving the Ground-Pounder’s
medal for valorous action on the battlefield still means a great
deal. The medal is a representation of McKennsys Hammer and
is worn about the neck on a blue ribbon.
THE UNIT CITATION OF MERIT
This award is a unit commendation for any regiment that
has bravely fought and triumphed against superior enemy
numbers. The citation is displayed by placing the long blackand-Steiner-blue ribbon on a regiment’s standard. In addition,
members of the regiment at the time of the citation receive tokens
of the Commonwealth’s gratitude. For noncommissioned officers
and enlisted soldiers, this is the McKennsy Ground-Pounder’s
Medal. Officers receive the McKennsy Hammer.
THE MCKENNSY HAMMER
This award is given to officers who have shown particularly
effective skills in tactics or strategy. The award is an actual silver
block hammer weighing about nine kilograms. Those honored
are allowed to carry the hammer to all formal occasions as a
sign of the Commonwealth’s trust and appreciation.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF
THE LCAF
Though the skill of the Steiner military is
considerable, particularly in defense of its own worlds,
there have been many inglorious defeats. It seems
inconceivable that the Successor State with the best-equipped
armed forces should be periodically humiliated. Some of this
ineptitude is due to the Commonwealth’s lack of light and mobile
‘Mechs. Though there are a few factories producing light ‘Mechs,
the numbers are meager and the machines so notoriously
unreliable that they usually end up on garrison duty. Only recently,
with the upgrading of subsidiary plants, has the quality of light
Steiner ‘Mechs improved.
The small number of Commonwealth light ‘Mechs has made
it difficult for combat officers to become familiar with the
capabilities of these swift machines. The word among other pilots
of the Inner Spheres used to be, “if a ‘Mech didn’t weigh more
than 50 tons, a Steiner officer would scoff and think it a minor
threat. If it managed to destroy a major target, the officer would
curse and call it blind luck. If the officer survived having his
‘Mech shot out from under him, he would get up, smile, and
stupidly consider himself fortunate that the enemy did not have
a larger ‘Mech.”
The enemy soon discovered and exploited the Steiner
inability to cope with speedy opponents. The Commonwealth
commanders either could not, or would not, correct this weakness,
which left them with a stilted, plodding approach to ‘Mech tactics.
For the commanders of the LCAF, the only way to combat fast
‘Mechs was to be sure that they had enough massive ‘Mechs to
wade into the opponent and crush the enemy with sheer weight
and numbers. This military philosophy resulted in even more
demands for heavy ‘Mechs, creating even less light ‘Mech
manufacture. The vicious cycle reached its nadir when three
BattleMech assembly lines were retooled from light ‘Mech designs
to heavier ones in the late 2900s.
This negative-feeding loop of wooden thinking points to
another basic problem within the Commonwealth military: the
lack of skills among many of its senior officers. Most of these
military clotheshorses got their positions not by skill or merit, but
through political connections and bribery. The scheming
atmosphere that is so prominent in the Royal Court is even
sharper in the halls of Asgard in Tharkad City.
Generalships are more often decided by scrutinizing the
candidate’s lineage than whether he has the past
experience. Even when a candidate lacks the right
connections of title or landholding, he can make it up by
placing the appropriate sums of cash in the appropriate
hands. The lack of skilled men in high positions explains
the LCAF’s lack of military imagination, though does not pardon
it. Even those officers who did win their posts on merit often find
themselves afraid of performing too well for fear that they may
lose their posts by showing someone else up as the incompetent
he is.
The recent Stilson Incident is an excellent example of how
corruption works in the LCAF. Stilson was able to enter Nagelring
Military Academy only after his father, Duke Stilson of New Exford,
made a cash donation to the local chapter of Veterans of the
Succession Wars. They, in turn, agreed to sponsor the young
man. After barely graduating, Stilson became a MechWarrior in
the 4th Lyran Regulars. After a year, during which he had two
accidents that landed his BattleMaster face first in the dirt, Stilson
was saved from dismissal after his father pulled a few strings.
Instead of being booted out of the military, he was promoted to
Hauptmann. Another month went by and Stilson made yet
another call to his father, complaining about the heavy
responsibility of leading men. No one was surprised when he
was promoted yet again, first to Leutnant-Colonel, and shortly
after to Leutnant-General. All this less than a year after Stilson
had graduated from the academy.
This circus of corruption only ended when a Kommandant
in Administration got wind of the goings-on and blew the whistle.
Since the incident was uncovered in 3017, Katrina Steiner has
led a near crusade to clean up the military, especially the senior
officers in the high command.
Her efforts have included strengthening the Judge
Advocate General’s Office, which is the Lyran military’s legal
and ethical branch. The JAG has recently had some success in
ridding the high command of deadwood when it dismissed three
officers for embezzling. One of these was a general. The officers
had been caught skimming funds intended for purchase of
medical supplies for MASH units along the Periphery. Meanwhile,
the Archon herself has written a new course in Military Ethics,
which is now required of every cadet in all Commonwealth
military academies except, of course, the Blackjack School of
Conflict.
Alessandro Steiner was actually the first to vary from the
accepted tactics of the Commonwealth military. Though his
innovations eventually led to his downfall, Alessandro’s ideas,
such as modeling recon units after those of the Eridani Light
Horse, did revitalize the military. Katrina Steiner continues this
trend by emphasizing light ‘Mech production and the promotion
of more officers according to proven skill ability and not their
wealth.
One of her first innovations was the creation of the Witch
Hunts of Gypsum and Baker 3. These large military exercises
held on the barren worlds every third year are an effort to train
all branches of the military to work together. The culmination of
the exercise is the hunting down and mock destruction of the
Witch, the name given to a light and mobile unit such as Winfield’s
Brigade or the Stealth Tigers, which play the hunted enemy.
Whether or not the LCAF can be swept clean of corruption,
the actions of recent Archons have definitely halted its corrosive
effects. With the recent Steiner-Davion alliance, there should be
further improvement, as the two militaries provide one another
with feedback and example.
CULTURE AND
ARTS
Culture and arts? Phah! What need have I of prancing
players and abstract lumps of clay? My culture is the bustle of a
stock exchange and my arts are the swindle, the con, and the
hostile takeover. Seeing a competitor sweat has more ‘artistic
merit’ for me than anything I’ve seen in any playhouse or museum.
—From the holoplay The Ugly Lyran, Andurien Broadcasting
Corp., Dec. 12, 3024
EDUCATION
Citizens of the Lyran Commonwealth are usually slightly
more educated than their counterparts in the other Successor
States. This might mean that the average Lyran knows the
rudiments of chemistry or recognizes a reference to the name of
Shakespeare, but House Steiner still faces the maw of ignorance
threatening to engulf us all.
During the early days of the Steiner dynasty, its leaders
wished to standardize education for the Commonwealth’s
billions of citizens. Always a well-educated family, the Steiners
established large teaching colleges on the more heavily
populated worlds, whose purpose was to train what eventually
became known as the ‘Pilgrim Professors’. Having graduated
from the college, Pilgrim Professors would spend at least the
next ten years visiting the poorer worlds to teach the rudiments
of an education. These vagabond educators traveled with a
special government pass that allowed them free passage on
any military transport and a certain amount of free supplies in
addition to their substantial salaries.
During their ten-year journeys, the Pilgrim Professors
attempted to raise funds for a college that each Professor would
eventually build and lead on a world that had none. These were
at first no more than a collection of a few buildings, but eventually
became outposts of learning in the vast reaches of space. By the
end of the Star League era, over 90 percent of Lyran words had
at least one accredited college, plus the proper number of lowerlevel schools. During the halcyon days of the Star League, the
average Commonwealth citizen had at least one year of college
education.
The ravages of the Succession Wars took their toll on the
Lyran educational system as they did throughout the Inner
Sphere. Countless universities and colleges were destroyed in
the onslaught. Teachers did not fare much better. Many joined
the Commonwealth military and died in battle. Others counted
among the civilian casualties of the fighting. Still others became
victims of sadistic officers and occupation governors of Houses
Kurita and Marik, who feared that the teachers would become
leaders of resistance movements against the occupation forces.
Many teachers from universities and schools of the Periphery
came forward to replace those lost, only to be gobbled up by the
war, too. The schools they left behind remained intact, but there
was no one to teach in them for the longest time.
The current Archon, Katrina Steiner, is making efforts to
revive the Pilgrim Professor program and is making headway in
acquiring the funds to build two new teaching colleges on
Tharkad and Donegal. In the meantime, several firms have filled
the void by sending company teachers to worlds where they
have large investments. Though not totally up to standard, these
corporate efforts have at least managed to slow down the rate of
declining knowledge.
RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES
Official efforts to rebuild the Lyran education system
emphasize rediscovering lost technologies, particularly in the
military and computer sciences. The Steiner government is
therefore willing to lend substantial sums to any university asking
to expand its sciences facility or wishing to embark on a research
project. One of Archon Katrina’s major goals is that at least 50
percent of her worlds have at least one major research facility
by the 3050s. Though this plan has been criticized as overambitious, the Estates General has given its approval.
The major Commonwealth industries also pay close
attention to what is occurring in university research laboratories.
Many corporations sponsor competitions for gifted students,
awarding to the winners grants either to attend the university of
their choice or to embark on a pet research project.
At the present time, House Steiner has five major
universities that emphasize the sciences and are capable
of undertaking major research projects.
University of Washington on Donegal
This is House Steiner’s computer research center.
Heavily funded by Nashsan Computers, this large
university nestles amid the Queen Anne Hills of the
Seattle continent and is equipped with probably the best
computer science facility in the Inner Sphere. Though tuition is
high, enough scholarships and government grants are awarded
to ensure that every class is filled. The university is currently
headed by Iona Trollthros, Grafina von Bainbridge Island.
New Cambridge University of Wessex
With more than 50 separate research facilities on campus,
New Cambridge is developing into the jack-of-all-trades
university. Though most of these research centers are small,
they have been responsible for several major breakthroughs in
recent years. One of these was the quint-gated logic circuit,
which earned its inventor a major cash prize from the Steiner
government and a high-level job in an electronics firm. New
Cambridge is led by Dean Weatherby.
Kyoto College
Though smaller than most other colleges, Kyoto has the
advantage of concentrating its curriculum entirely on the study
and research of myomers. It was here that engineers recently
rediscovered the method of magnetically tri-splicing myomer
muscle bundles directly to a ‘Mech’s skeleton without using the
usual Jamison coupling.
Tharkad University
Located in Olympia, Tharkad University specializes in history.
Though history may not seem of the same importance as scientific
research, its study is crucial because 90 percent of the scientific
information now being ‘discovered’ was originally known for
hundreds of years before the Succession Wars erased it from
human memory. Katherine Steiner, the first Steiner Archon, was
an alumna of Tharkad University and her government continues
the policy of heavily funding it.
Raina University on Skye
Raina University is the Lyran center of aerospace research.
Its graduates usually go on to become moving forces behind
efforts to rediscover the technology of DropShip and JumpShip
construction. Dean Gregory McCatrick is the president of Raina
University.
Life in the Successor States isn’t so bad. If you can
cope with having to plow a rocky field because your
agrobot lacks a cable six centimeters long, then you’re
perfectly suited to life in them there hills. If you enjoy the
irony of zooming across the universe in a JumpShip,
only to be forced to ride a jackass six klicks through a
downpour, then man, you’ve got it made in these
Successor States.
—From the comedy holoseries M.P.’s Jump Circus,
Donegal Broadcasting Co., 3023
THE ARTS
In the often rabid atmosphere of business and megacredits, the average Lyran artist can usually make a living,
which is not as true in most other Successor States. If he
fives in poverty, it is usually a result of choice about
lifestyle rather than circumstances. The number of people
who truly understand and appreciate the work of a sculptor in
Mizar plastic crystals or the dancing of a ballet may be few and
far between, but the tradition of patronage among rich Lyran
businessmen continues to provide many artists with a good
living.
On the richer worlds like Tharkad, Donegal, and Skye, there
are many art academies, drama schools, and colleges devoted
to various other arts. Most widely known of these is the Rewland
College of Fine Arts on Tharkad. It was at Rewland that Jamison
Henry, the famed MechWarrior-Poet, first realized his talent. Other
famous schools of the arts include the Newbury School of
Performing Arts on Tamar, the Chekswa School of Literature on
Donegal, and the Mitchellson University of Arts and Crafts on
Yed Prior.
Most prosperous worlds support at least one center of artistic
effort. There is the Eberheart Center in Tharkad City, for example,
or the Right Bank of the River Luvon on Tamar. Of course,
acceptance at the Royal Court is the ultimate goal for most artists.
Those invited there receive a warm welcome from Katrina, who
is actually a good dancer when someone can coax her out of
her Steiner reserve. She also sculpts in Tharkan granite.
Unique to the Commonwealth are the itinerant musicians
and dramatists who travel and perform throughout the realm in
the ancient tradition of the Terran troubadour. When these
minstrels make their way to Tharkad, Katrina receives them, for
both the pleasure they afford and for the unbiased reports they
can offer on the state of her realm.
DAILY LIFE AND CULTURE
We of ComStar are well-acquainted with the remarkable
contrasts common to daily life in the Successor States. The
average man or woman is by now used to incongruities such as
using a cordless phone while riding a lumbering beast to the
office or using food grown in a garden to pay for an
appendectomy performed with a laser scalpel. Usually, it is only
the more educated citizens who, having read of the glories of
the Star League era, can see the irony of hunting their dinner
with a bow and arrow and then watching their spouse cook it in
a microwave.
In the Lyran Commonwealth, disparities are not as dramatic
as in most other Successor States because the level of
technology is spread more evenly throughout the realm. If the
present lull in the fighting continues or the alliance between the
Commonwealth and the Federated Suns lives up to its promise,
Lyran citizens can look forward to an even more widespread
distribution of technology into daily life.
PUBLIC MEDIA
As the Steiner government places few restrictions
on what is permissible as public entertainment or
information, Lyrans have myriad choices in these two
areas. Even the most sparsely populated world usually
has at least one holo station, two or three video stations, and
five to ten radio stations. The planetary governments generally
set the standard for the stations, impose moral codes, determine
how many broadcast hours must be local programming, and the
level of public access for each station.
Worlds such as Tharkad, Donegal, Skye, and Kooken’s
Pleasure Pit have become centers of major media industries.
The programs created there are sold throughout the
Commonwealth, and sometimes into neighboring realms as well.
Corporations often buy these programs, which they supply to
local stations for broadcasting with a liberal sprinkling of the
firms’ advertising.
THE EARCANDY COMPANY OF SKYE
The EarCandy company is the largest producer of
musical and sensory recordings in the Commonwealth,
and has over a thousand musicians and musical groups
on its many labels. They produce most of their discs,
tapes, and sensory cubes in their studios in EarCandy
City on Skye. Its Star Drive label has a hit with Theras
and Her Red Deltas, currently the hottest band in the realm.
EarCandy also represents other popular groups such as The
‘Mech Droppings. Crankshaft, The Tamar Traitors, and the Solar
Sailors, all of whom are testament to the appeal of old-fashioned
rock and roll. Also available from EarCandy are the recordings
of the finest high-brow music from the likes of the Wellington
Symphony of Donegal or the Summer Operatics. EarCandy Tours
is the division that books and manages musicians’ tours
throughout the Commonwealth.
It wasn’t that the audience
was disappointed with either the
appearance of Theras and Her
Red Deltas or their show, which
includes whips, chains, and
anatomical displays. Some later
said they actually enjoyed the
performance. The reason that
most audience members later
demanded a return of their
money from EarCandy Tours
was that they had been at the
Kesterton
Amphitheater
expecting the Tharkan Boy’s
Choir.
—From The Six O’Clock
Nightly News, Skye News
Network, Jan. 12,3022
THARKAN MEDIA ASSOCIATES
Located in the tropical Tatyana island chain, this
entertainment company is known for the high quality of its
products, including publication of books by Grafina Gerbert, the
Commonwealth’s most celebrated novelist. The Tharkan
Broadcast Company is another of the TMA’s subsidiaries, offering
a complete line of holoshows for its customers. Their most popular
holoshow right now is The Steinhearts, a barely fictionalized
account of the Steiner family. This show is seen on over 150
stations, as well as ten more in House Kurita, House Marik, and
House Davion, where episodes run slightly behind the Steiner
stations.
THE DONEGAL BROADCASTING COMPANY
Located in Media City, the DBC is the Commonwealth’s
major news and information outlet. The most visible division of
the DBC is the Commonwealth Press, whose reporters and
cameramen are assigned to most of the major Steiner worlds,
where they supply highly opinionated stories for dissemination
by holo, newsprint, radio, and video mass media. The DBC’s
nightly program, The Evening News, is the most widely watched
news program in the realm. The anchor of this show, Kari
Andersen, is arguably the most recognizable personality in the
Commonwealth. Both his critics and his fans would probably
agree that Andersen could make people believe that Lord Kurita
is a true humanitarian and that JumpShips are powered by little
hamsters running in exercise wheels.
HOLO ENTERTAINMENTS FROM KOOKEN
A large entertainment industry based on Kooken’s Pleasure
Pit, this firm is a major producer of holos ranging over every
possible subject, from classic gothic romance to pornography
from its DeSade Division. There is also an electronics division
that converts standard holo stations into pay-for-view stations,
which is the only way many of its holos could be seen on some
worlds. The company is also the major publisher of pornographic
books, records, and sensory discs through its Velcro Fly logo.
SOCIETAL PROBLEMS
COMSTAR AND THE LYRAN PEOPLE
As a whole, the Lyrans tend to be a tolerant people,
not prone to irrational hatreds. Discrimination because
of race, gender, or sexual persuasion is much less
common than during Terra’s darker history. Because of
the nobility system that exists in all the Successor States,
class distinction is still very much alive on the Steiner worlds.
Though its titled class tend to be more flexible and accessible
than in other realms, discrimination against the lower classes
still exists. Social unrest and even riots are not uncommon,
especially on worlds where the upper classes seek to so stratify
society that the poorer groups have virtually no chance of
bettering their station.
One need to know very little to get by in the Lyran
Commonwealth: Who to talk to, who not to talk to, and
who to persuade with the appropriate number of C-Bills.
—Cyril Tslio, ex-Precentor of Donegal Station,
currently serving five-year prison sentence for bribery.
In 2891, the planetary nobility of Nuelson Minor
imposed a restriction on how many inter-class marriages
could take place each year, with annual wages
determining which classes could intermarry. Though the
official justification for the law was that it would prevent
outflow of the planet’s money to neighboring worlds
through marriages, the planet’s poor did not see it that
way. Marrying up the social ladder was often the only
hope the poorer classes had of advancing. The resulting
riots lasted three years. Many died during that time,
including the Duke’s daughter, who had the misfortune
of failing in love with the leader of the Poor People’s
Political Party.
—From the documentary holo, Class: A Necessary
Evil? Donegal Broadcasting Co., June 27,3021
Because House Steiner does not rigidly control the individual
planets in its realm, there exists a remarkable variety of political
philosophies and of lifestyles. At the moment, most of the
planetary governments are based on democratic principles. What
has proven surprisingly workable is anarchy, which operates
not by set rules but through continual barter and negotiations.
Some 40 worlds currently govern themselves with this free-forall attitude.
Crime is a definite problem on the more heavily populated
worlds. Though the times are not as socially violent as during
the 20th and 21st centuries on Terra, large police forces are still
necessary. Some Steiner worlds have taken to establishing
planetary Free Zones, regions where there are no laws and
criminals can work their ‘trade’ on anyone stupid enough to
venture in. The Free Zones have helped to alleviate the crime
rate in normal areas, though crime still exists. Currently, blueand white-collar stealing is the most prevalent crime, not
surprising in view of the Commonwealth’s money-oriented
society.
Working in the Lyran Commonwealth and interacting with
its people presents ComStar with unique challenges. Neither
our scientific abilities nor our rituals and rites impress the average
Lyran citizen as they do elsewhere. This is because higher
technology is not as mysterious among the prosperous Steiner
worlds, and because the average Lyran is already a follower of
some religion, and so our spiritual tradition does not attract him.
As a result, a ComStar official’s life in the Lyran
Commonwealth is much more dependant on personal skills
such as his ability to negotiate and his ability to identify who
actually wields the power in a situation.
GENERAL RELATIONS
The average Lyran may gaze in awe at a piece of working
Star League machinery, but the reverence quickly changes to
curses if the thing fails to work for him. Lyrans are also natural
skeptics, probably because of their shrewd business sense.
When they do respect us, it is usually because their practical
minds admire the services we provide. ComStar’s monopoly on
interstellar communications is quite an achievement to a profitoriented culture like the Commonwealth.
We recruit fewer Acolytes from the Commonwealth than
from any other Successor State. This is despite the fact that the
third or fourth sons or daughters of the noble class often join the
Order because their chances of family inheritance are small.
Intellectuals among the Lyrans already disapprove of our
hierarchical order and its secret ways. Their barely concealed
contempt could spread to the general populace if House Steiner
continues to upgrade its technology. The more sophisticated its
people become, the less effect our mystique will have and the
more foolish will seem the rituals that cloak our operations.
POLITICAL INFLUENCE
The political sway we hold over some planetary
governments is fast diminishing as the Commonwealth’s
economy and science steadily grow stronger. Now, more than
ever, it is of prime importance that every ComStar official
understands the chain of power that rules the lives and actions
of the common citizenry of the Commonwealth.
First in order of power is the planet’s nobility. From the Duke
on down to the Grafs, this social elite is legal arbiter of most
political decisions about the planet. Every member of ComStar
stationed on a planet should curry favor with the most influential
nobles and attempt to win their confidence. The one major
drawback to depending upon the nobility for political influence
is the fact that they are often away from their world for months at
a time.
Next in line of power are the planetary governments.
The typical Steiner world government consists of a group
of elected officials balanced against the nobility. Often
the antagonism between the elected officials and the
nobility is so bitter that a ComStar official must keep his
meetings with the nobility secret to avoid alienating the
elected members of the planetary government. These
delegates rarely leave their world unless elected to the Estates
General, and so once a good contact is made, it tends to remain
stable. Because of the typically large planetary bureaucracies,
and habitual bickering among departments, ComStar agents
would do best to cultivate highly placed officials, who are not
likely to be thrown out of office over some political squabble.
The next highest power on a Steiner planet is the Chief
Administrator of the local LCCS office. As official representative
of the Commonwealth government, the Chief Administrator and
his aides are well acquainted with the planet’s nobility and the
planetary government. Though he is officially a tax collector and
administrator without any real power to influence a planet’s
politics, the Chief Administrator often has developed and will
use considerable unofficial influence.
The leader of the local LCAF forces also has unofficial
political clout. The more important the world and the larger the
LCAF presence, the more likely the local government is to listen
to the commanders wishes. On important worlds, such as those
serving as homeworld for a regiment, the commander usually
holds as much political sway as does a Chief Administrator.
The commander of the nobility’s private troops also has
some political influence. Though he might actually have more
contacts and practical influence than the local LCAF commander,
the commander of the nobility’s troops also must usually answer
to superiors who are close at hand, while the bosses of the
LCAF commander are far away. This tends to reduce these
commanders to nothing more than the mouthpieces for their
employer. It is the rare officer who will actually use the political
influence inherent in his job.
In many ways, we must fear what we have sworn to
promote. Even though we fervently pray for the candle of
knowledge to relight our dark souls, we must all be well
aware that it would mean the end of ComStar, unless we
manage to control the spread of knowledge, unless we
can control the light and on whom it fails.
—From the private journals of Primus Toyama
COMMONWEALTH THREATS TO COMSTAR
Aside from the obvious tensions created by the
Poulsbo situation, (see History for a full discussion), there
are divisive trends creeping into ComStar’s relations with
the Lyrans. Whether or not these trends herald an actual
change in our mutual interactions remains to be seen.
It is entirely possible that, barring a catastrophe or
war, Lyran scientists will have recovered enough knowledge
within the next 30 years to compromise our monopoly on
interstellar communications. Indeed, if Tharkad University’s
Professor Lewis proves successful in his research into
accelerated submeson bundling, this estimate could be
dangerously inaccurate. His research threatens to expose the
secret of our communications system, and so jeopardizes our
very existence. If the highest ComStar officials decide in favor of
a termination order for Professor Lewis, they will be entirely
justified.
The other disturbing trend is the loss of our cloud of
mysticism. The Lyrans no longer seem to view us as wizards
and keepers of divine wisdom, but as just another business,
however large and vital. This loss of mystique has made our
order a topic of debate in the Estates General and even the butt
of jokes and political satire. There are some Lyran worlds that
are overtly hostile to us, most notably Aur and Thuban. May the
souls of the ComStar representatives who committed crimes
against these worlds live in darkness forever.
From all this, it is clear that ComStar must find new ways to
increase its influence among the common people of House
Steiner before its technology reaches the point where they need
us no longer.
SOCIOECONOMICS
The Lyran Commonwealth is the only Successor State that
retains even a hint of the wealth that was once commonplace in
the Star League era. Such economic vitality in the face of almost
constant warfare is the result of full cooperation and planning
among industry, the public, and the government.
GOVERNMENTAL ATTITUDE
Unlike other governments in the Inner Sphere, the Lyran
Commonwealth prefers not to dominate its economy but rather
to play the role of partner with business. This approach, created
and sustained by a series of clear-sighted administrators, helps
make the Lyran government “designer of the stage upon which
the economy plays itself out”, as one Commonwealth economist
put it. The Steiner government draws upon three key resources
to encourage and stabilize the economy: the Commonwealth
Stock Exchanges, the Commonwealth Reserve Bank, and the
Commonwealth Mint.
The five major Commonwealth Stock Exchanges are
located in the capital cities of Donegal, Skye, Sudeten, Australia,
and Bolan, where they are most convenient to the major Lyran
industries. These financial institutions are run as partnerships
between the host world’s planetary government and the
Commonwealth government on Tharkad. Each major stock
exchange also houses a commodities market where valuables
such as wheat, gold, and BattleMech armor are bought and
sold.
Though the government funds these centers of economic
speculation, it is not as a profit-making venture. Instead, top
officials from the Ministry of Finance closely monitor the actions
of the various markets. If they spot any trends that indicate trouble
for the Lyran economy as a whole, they take appropriate action,
such as halting trade and forcing the market to close. In
consultation with the Archon, they then implement any further
emergency procedures. This kind of decisive governmental
action has averted more than one economic disaster.
The Commonwealth Reserve Bank is located in Tharkad
City, with branch offices on almost every industrialized world in
the realm. As the government’s financial institution, the Reserve
monitors the Commonwealth’s money supply. Too little in
circulation could create an economic depression, while too much
could bring on runaway inflation. The Reserve is the branch of
the Ministry of Finances responsible for the strength of the House
Steiner currency. Because of the foresight of wise advisors, the
Reserve has a wide range of valuables stockpiled to back up
the House currency. These stockpiles include germanium, the
standard of the old Star League currency, as well as gold, silver,
assorted gem supplies, and the water of many ocean-rich worlds.
The Commonwealth Mint is entrusted with the manufacture
of Lyran paper money and coins, a monumental task that requires
the work of six mints. Five of the mints are located on the same
worlds as the Commonwealth Stock Exchanges, with the sixth
in Triad City. Though security is formidable around these sprawling
complexes entrusted with creating the Commonwealth’s
currency, a few foolish souls have attempted to break in.
Needless to say, these thieves barely succeeded in breaching
the outer defenses before being caught. So far, no one but
authorized personnel has ever even glimpsed the rooms stacked
to the ceiling with H-Bills or sacks of coins, much less stolen
even a single H-bill.
POLITICAL AIMS OF THE ECONOMY
In recent months, there has been much speculation among
our brothers and sisters concerning the recent alliance between
the Commonwealth and the Federated Suns. Most of the talk in
ComStar centers on the possible military implications of the
alliance. Perhaps they miss the most significant possibility raised
by the union of the two Successor States: the Lyran
Commonwealth now has more than enough resources to
accomplish economic, if not military, domination of the Inner
Sphere.
The Lyran economy has always been robust, but few are
aware of how much the Steiners have been able to expand into
other States. Though the exigencies of war make free and safe
trade between States nearly impossible, the Steiner government
is not above illegal practices such as black-marketeering to
create a demand for Lyran products in the other realms.
Some in ComStar attribute this to the avarice of the average
Commonwealth businessman, but there may be more than
meets the eye. It is entirely possible that the Steiner government
has cleverly realized that there are other ways to conquer one’s
enemies besides the use of military force. If they can create a
major demand for Commonwealth products in Marik and Kurita
worlds, then House Steiner can begin to use economic strongarm tactics to threaten its neighbors.
To be most effective, this strategy would require that military
tensions between the Successor States diminish significantly,
which is why it is unlikely that the Commonwealth and the
Federated Suns will undertake a combined offensive, as so
many now fear. Why would Steiner participate in another draining
escalation of the war when, with luck, its leaders and
businessmen can sit back and watch the tentacles of a vigorous
economy ensnare their opponents?
CONSUMER GOODS
Planetary governments will not last long if unable to
foster the production of adequate food, housing, and
employment for their citizens. For this reason, most
planetary governments in the Commonwealth have a
say in how their world’s larger construction companies
and agribusinesses are operated. Most Lyran businesses are
still privately owned, however, and are free to seek profits as
they see fit, provided they fulfill their government contracts
promptly.
The system seems successful, for even the poorest citizen
has a roof over his head and enough to eat on most Lyran
planets. Only in the Periphery, which is relatively wild and often
undeveloped, are there sometimes shortages of housing and
food. There are very few worlds in the Commonwealth unable to
grow enough food to sustain their own populations. During the
first Succession War, those that could not do so lost greater
numbers to starvation than to warfare when the grain freighters
stopped coming. Since that time, Commonwealth worlds are
especially careful about monitoring their food production
capacities and needs.
Though the average Lyran has a right to food and housing,
what planetary governments provide is usually bland and spartan.
This provides the incentive for citizens to work harder to improve
their living conditions.
Those who move out of public housing and up in the social
structure are also the ones who create the demand for consumer
goods such as electronic entertainment centers, personal
computers, mechanical transportation, and the like. In the Lyran
Commonwealth, these high-tech items are available mainly on
the heavily industrialized worlds, while people in the far reaches
of the Trellshire, Alarion, and Coventry provinces are far less
likely to find them available.
A remarkably high number of advanced tech Star League
artifacts still exist scattered throughout the Commonwealth.
Though most of this antiquated but precious equipment is now a
patchwork of repairs, it does still function. This helps to expose
even the poorest people to the attractive uses of technology,
which creates new markets for the future. In search of these new
markets, many companies have taken to traveling the more
remote trade routes to sponsor ‘classes’ in technology, which
are little more than extensive advertisements for the company’s
products. Combined with the still extant Star League technology,
these ersatz seminars keep the poorer worlds hungry for the
advantages of technology.
ComStar’s own program to lend planet-wide communication
gear to the less-developed worlds has also been successful.
The wear and tear on our holy equipment is more than offset by
the fact that these planets become dependent on our facilities,
which also confers political influence for our brethren on those
worlds. This program should definitely be continued and
expanded.
CORPORATE PROFILES
DEFIANCE INDUSTRIES OF HESPERUS
Commonwealth Stock Exchange Symbol: DefHes
Home Office Location: Defiance Mountain, Hesperus II
President/CEO: Greydon Brewer, Duke of Hesperus II
Founding Date: December 2577
Principal Divisions
Division Name: Defiance BattleMechs. Hesperus II
Division Head: Kenneth Brewer,
Landgrave of Defiance Mountain
Chief Products: BattleMechs
Division Name: Defiance BattleMechs, Furillo
Division Head: Jacqueline Brewer,
Landgrave of the Zelphene Plains
Chief Products: BattleMechs
Division Name: Defiance Vehicles
Division Head: Xuong Michaels
Chief Products: Armored Vehicles
Division Name: Defiance Maintenance
Division Head: Kraig Moran
Chief Products: Product Maintenance
Division Name: Defiance Motors
(Under construction on Tharkad)
Division Head: Daniel Mohok
Chief Products: Fusion Motors
Division Name: Defiance Research and Development
Division Head: Alyana McManus
Chief Products: Product Research
Balance Sheets Year Ended: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
674M S-Bills
334M S-Bills
153M S-Bills 2.19
History:
After the rebellion of the Periphery worlds, the Star League
armies attacked those outworlders in 2577. To ensure
replacements for the many ‘Mechs that were sure to be lost, First
Lord Cameron and Archon Viola Steiner signed an agreement
to create Defiance Industries later in the same year. To protect
this group of factories from assault and sabotage, the architects
placed them in the rugged terrain of Hesperus II. Thousands of
workers spent ten years hollowing out a huge mountain in the
convoluted Myoo Mountains of the South Whitman continent,
for the eventual construction of factories.
With the fall of Star League, control of these factories passed
to the Steiners. Archon Jennifer Steiner appointed Baron Gerald
Brewer, a former MechWarrior and executive of a Lyran
BattleMech facility on Coventry, to take control of the Hesperus
factories. To this date, the Brewer family maintains tight control
over them. By combining creative management with forceful,
almost dictatorial, leadership, the Brewers have kept up the
production of BattleMechs through the years. Despite 14 attempts
by other Successor States to destroy the Hesperus factories,
their prodigious rate of production has been slowed down only
briefly and temporarily.
Business Profile:
Defiance Industries is currently undergoing an
ambitious expansion program. In 2992, Duke Brewer
acquired the aging Tolsand Factory on Furillo. Since then,
he has poured considerable funds into upgrading that
factory, which began full production a year and a half
ago, boosting the company’s profits enormously. The two
BattleMech factories produce seven ‘Mech types, but specialize
in the huge Zeus and Atlas designs.
The Combat Vehicles Division became inactive when one
of the many battles on Hesperus II destroyed its manufacturing
plant. In 2972, the division became operational again when a
new factory opened on Hesperus. Ten years later, the Vehicles
Division was manufacturing Manticore tanks, a tried and true
Star League design. In 3020, the Vehicles Division unveiled its
first original design, which was the Rommel/Patton tank.
Designed to be more mobile and easier to build than other
armored vehicles, the two tank types have undergone serious
testing by the Tank Brigade of Hansen’s Roughriders. The LCAF’s
representative and judge of the testing is Hermann Steiner, which
indicates the importance House Steiner gives to these new
fighting vehicles.
If the Rommel/Patton tanks prove to be as effective as their
designers claim, the completion of the new fusion engine factory
on Tharkad becomes doubly important. Because fusion engines
for ‘Mechs and other vehicles were in such short supply, Defiance
Industries decided in 2995 to build its own factories. The Motors
Division was to supervise construction on the Tatyana Island
chain, with a projected completion date of eight years.
The factories remain unfinished to this day. Construction
halted in 3002 when engineers discovered a flaw in the design
of the fusion core loading bays. Not enough engineers and
technicians were available to create a new design for the system.
Since then, the Motors Division has been waiting for the R & D
division (and the NAIS in the Federated Suns) to train enough
engineers to resume construction of the factory, which would
probably take one more year. Until that day, the delay in
completing the factory also puts a hold on producing the Rommel/
Patton and many other projects.
The Research and Development Division of Defiance
Industries includes possibly the finest group of scientists and
engineers trained to create fighting vehicles. They have always
managed to stay a step ahead of the problem of parts shortages.
On several occasions, the team has actually accomplished the
rare feat of designing modifications of ‘Mechs and ‘Mech parts
that actually improve on the original design.
The members of Defiance’s Maintenance Division are
perhaps the most visible representatives of the firm besides the
‘Mechs themselves. These Master Technicians accompany LCAF
regiments to train Commonwealth Techs in the repair of their
company’s products. Maintenance Division members usually
wear the uniform of a warrant officer when traveling with fighting
units. To distinguish themselves from other soldiers, they also
display large patches with the Defiance logo on their uniform
sleeves.
Profile of the CEO:
Duke Greydon Brewer has been the head of
Defiance Industries for the past 33 years. Under his
leadership, Defiance Industries has ventured into other
facets of the defense industry, while maintaining the
high quality of its BattleMechs. This ambitious
expansionism is due mostly to Duke Brewer’s years as
Pictured here is Greydon Brewer, Duke of Hesperus II and
owner of Defiance Industries, the largest BattleMech
manufacturer in the five Successor States. Brewer is
wearing an immaculate formal suit in his company’s colors
of red and gold. Though his MechWarrior days are long
over, Duke Brewer still sports a shaved crown and pigtails,
a fashion often adopted by Lyran MechWarriors.
an officer in the 17th Skye Rangers of the LCAF. After
seeing a comrade die because of a ‘Mech’s shoddy
workmanship, Duke Brewer vowed that Defiance would
never produce anything but the best. He demands
stringent testing of every piece of equipment that rolls off
the production lines, despite the extra cost and time.
Though admirable, this cautious approach also tends to
hamper the development of new weapon systems. Three times
during the development of the Rommel/Patton tank prototypes,
Greydon Brewer halted testing for long periods because he felt
neither the preparation nor the conditions for testing were
adequate.
Duke Brewer is a tall, distinguished black man whose 56
years show in his air of quiet dignity rather than in more obvious
signs of age. Though slow to anger, he is fearsome when roused
to ire. As a 17th Skye Ranger, he shaved the top of his head to
provide for better BFT contacts in his neurohelmet, a style he
wears to this day, including the two ponytails. While working in
his office in the Tower on Defiance Mountain or when greeting
dignitaries, Duke Brewer wears an immaculate formal suit, whose
jacket is the same blood red color of the company’s logo. A
reserved man, the Duke is also extremely polite. Though some
interpret this as haughtiness, his employees are affected by his
decorum, and try to live up to the same standard.
The only exception to this ambience of calm courtesy is the
rowdy bunch of former MechWarriors whom Defiance Industries
employs to test the company’s ‘Mechs. They are led by retired
Hauptmann-Kommandant Simon ‘The Mountain’ Krankow. A bull
of a man, he not only directs the company’s ‘Mech testing and its
private ‘Mech regiment, but is also the chief instructor of the
company’s guards in hand-to-hand combat. Duke Brewer often
joins the Mountain and his bunch of grizzled veterans, enjoying
the chance to shed his spotless suit for oil-stained Tech’s
coveralls. Sometimes, he and Krankow take ‘Mechs out onto the
testing range for what they call ‘tug-and-tussle’. Though these
wrestling matches between huge ‘Mechs worries Duchess
Eveline Kelswa Brewer, the Duke’s wife, she knows better than
to try to interfere.
The Duke has two children, Kenneth and Jacqueline.
Kenneth Brewer oversees the Hesperus BattleMech facilities,
while his sister controls the factory on Furillo. Jacqueline has
recently retired with many honors from the LCAF, and many
believe that Duke Brewer secretly favors her as his successor in
running the company. Kenneth is the eldest, however, and not
likely to consent to his sister taking the reins of the company
away from him.
Relations with the Commonwealth Govemment:
Defiance Industries has an excellent rapport with
Katrina Steiner, who has always treated Duke Brewer
as an honored guest at the Royal Court. Some report
that it was Katrina herself who gave Brewer the idea and
financial backing to design the Rommel/Patton tanks.
Politically, Defiance Industries holds a prominent
position in the government. The mere fact that it represents the
core of the Commonwealth’s military equipment gives the Brewer
family considerable clout. Surprisingly, they have shown little
inclination to use it. Only Jacqueline Brewer has taken advantage
by funding favorite charities such as the Veteran’s Hospital on
Furillo.
Though Brewers are in favor with the Archon, the family has
clashed several times with Representatives from Hesperus II
and the surrounding planets. Twice, Duke Brewer has tried to
dictate how the Representative of Hesperus should vote on
certain issues, angering just about everyone in the Estates
General. After an initial flurry of talk about finding a way to punish
the Duke for his insolence, the instigators realized that the man
was simply too powerful for them to reach.
Security and Military Forces:
As noted above, rival House armies have attacked the
Hesperus factories more than a dozen times since the start of
the Succession Wars, which is why Defiance Industries now
has a heavy contingent of security and military personnel
protecting it.
Defiance Security Forces are easily recognized by their
white and blood-red uniforms, which are closely patterned after
battle dress of infantrymen in the LCAF. The helmet, which is
identical to the military’s, is painted red and bears the company’s
logo on either side. The Security Badge, which shows the
company’s logo above crossed cone rifles, is worn on the left
side of the jacket front or on the flack jacket. On the right side is
the wearer’s ID badge. This badge, worn at all times by every
employee of the company, has a microchip imbedded in it to
identity its owner. Attached just above the ID badge on the uniform
of Security personnel is a walkie-talkie microphone. These
walkie-talkies are quite powerful for their size and allow
communications with the most distant security watchrooms.
Every member of Defiance Security also carries a standard laser
pistol, hefty stun-stick, and an arc-flashlight on his belt.
Defiance Industries security guards are vigorous in
performing their duty. Approaching the factory’s well-lit gate, a
visitor first sees the concrete watchtower rising some seven or
eight meters above the entrance. Coming closer, he observes
the barrel of a cone rifle protruding from a tower window and
aimed at his vehicle. A row of spikes and concrete slabs then
bars the visitor’s way as two Security personnel armed with
stun-sticks order him to halt. Just beyond this stand two more
guards, each with a rifle. At various times of the day, there might
also be a team of guards patrolling the electrified fence in jeeps
with cone rifles mounted on their rear roll bar. If the visitor’s ID
passes muster, a guard in the tower presses a button to retract
the bars, allowing the outsider to enter. To reach the most sensitive
area of a Defiance factory usually requires passing through four
or more such check-points.
The Defiance Self-Protection Force (DSPF) consists
of about a regiment’s worth of MechWarriors and armored
vehicle crews. The unit was originally formed in 2852 in
a desperate attempt to protect the factories from
approaching enemy forces. Volunteer factory workers
were given rudimentary training in the operation of
BattleMechs, and then sent out to face the enemy. So
valiant were the efforts of these workers-turned-MechWarriors
that Baron Brewer decided to continue the ‘Mech unit in honor of
those who had died.
Though no longer known as the ‘The Force of Last
Resort’, the DSPF does still sport the depiction of Alfred
P. Newman, an ancient Earth political figure, on its
regimental patch. Newman’s motto of ‘What, Me Worry?’
is the unit’s slogan. The DSPF ‘Mechs are painted in the
dark red and gold of the company colors. The DSPF
usually recruits its members from the ranks of retired
Steiner military personnel. The Force also takes young men and
women as apprentice Warriors, which is a huge boost to their
military education. These youngsters almost always go on to
perform well in the LCAF.
The official function of DSPF is to provide protection for
Defiance factories in times of grave danger, but this has not
stopped the force from taking on other roles. The regiment has
on occasion placed itself under control of commanders from the
Steiner armed forces. In three separate battles, DSPF elements
have seen action alongside Commonwealth units raiding Marik
worlds.
How they came to be so far away from their duties on
Hesperus is still unexplained. What is certain is that the DSPF is
a strong, highly motivated fighting unit.
Notes:
There are rumors circulating that Defiance Industries may
be on the verge of announcing either a new ‘Mech design or a
new division for the construction of AeroSpace Fighters. Rumor
also has it that the company’s new ‘Mech design is a huge version
of the unique Hatchetman that Defiance also produces. The
design is supposedly another creation of Team Banzai from the
Federated Suns, the group responsible for the original
Hatchetman. This rumor may be reliable, because ComStar
sources report that at least one assembly line at Defiance’s
Furillo factory currently stands idle, which may indicate it waits
in reserve for production of a heavy ‘Mech. As for the rumors
about AeroSpace Fighters, it is doubtful that Duke Brewer could
hire the talent needed to start such a huge project without
ComStar agents learning of it.
On a more intimate note, there has also been talk of a liaison
between Jacqueline Brewer and Ivan Steiner. Though this has
little significance now, it does bear watching.
Simon ‘The Mountain’ Krankow, retired HauptmannKommandant of an LCAF ‘Mech regiment, and current
commander of Defiance Industries’ security force, is shown here
in his capacity as the hand-to-hand combat instructor. He is
teaching the finer points of using the long stun-stick, his favorite
weapon.
NASHSAN DIVERSIFIED
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: NasDiv
Home Office Location: Wellington’s Eyrie, Donegal
President/CEO: Duchess Margaret Doons
Founding Date: October 2795
Principal Divisions
Division Name: Nashsan Computers
Division Head: Graf Mitchell Doons
Chief Products: Computers
Division Name: Nashsan Foods
Division Head: Jacob Deitrichson
Chief Products: Food, both basic and gourmet
Division Name: Nashsan Architects of Donegal
Division Head: Stephen Hult
Chief Products: Building Design
Division Name: Nashsan Construction
Division Head: Kari Rimbaud
Chief Products: Building Construction
Division Name: Nashsan Shipping
Division Head: Elisworth Codorniz
Chief Products: Freighter Service
Companies Owned in Partnership With Defiance Industries:
N&D Targeting Computers
N&D Shipyards
Balance Sheet, Year Ended: December 31, 3025
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
672M S-Bills
4239M S-Bills 2417M S-Bills 1.75
History:
With the fall of Star League, it seemed likely that the fledgling
Ns-Shan Computer Tracking Company would quickly disappear
with it. With so many larger Lyran companies greedily swallowing
up the smaller ones that had depended on the Star League for
support, it looked as though Ns-Shan would meet such a fate.
Yet, this small company surprised everyone by announcing a
line of sophisticated computers at prices that grossly undercut
the competition. By 2795, Ns-Shan had taken over a huge 30
percent portion of the Commonwealth’s computer market.
That year, the company changed its name to the present
one of Nashsan. It soon also began an aggressive campaign to
use its ready cash to buy up diverse other companies. In the
shambles of the First Succession War, the pickings were good
for any firm with plenty of cash, which Nashsan seemed to have
in unlimited quantity.
Today, the company is diversified into five major divisions,
owns controlling shares in six others, and is a partner with
Defiance Industries in two more. Every member company of
Nashsan Diversified uses the parent firm’s colors of yellow, green,
and blue in its logos.
Business Profile:
Nashsan Computers. The largest computer
company in the Commonwealth, Nashsan Computers
makes computers that rival in complexity the best that
our sainted ComStar craftsmen can make. How they
manage to build computers of Star League capability
when other Commonwealth manufacturers can barely
turn out computers of late 25th century technology is a mystery.
The five Nashsan computer factories are located on Coventry.
Nashsan Foods. The Nashsan Foods offices are located
on New Exford. This division of Nashsan Diversified owns huge
tracts of land on New Exford, Bountiful Harvest, Graceland,
Summit, and Hamilton. One of the few interplanetary food
companies, Nashsan Foods is fast becoming the sole provider
of food to many of the heavily industrialized worlds in the Tamar
Pact. The company even has contracts with a number of worlds
on the other side of the Draconis border. The company specializes
in grains, fruits, and other assorted products. Its growing meat
division exports cattle, pigs, gnu-oxen, and bison products from
ranches on New Exford and Hamilton. About 75 percent of
Nashsan Food’s business is in basic foods, with the remainder
in gourmet items. These items are usually shipped to places like
Donegal and Tharkad where wealthy palates are rediscovering
delicacies like Exford Truffles, Meat Lettuces of Harvest, Binsby
Berries, and Buleen Anchovies.
Nashsan Architects of Donegal. This architectural firm
specializes in the design of major buildings and military strong
points. Though its staff of 30 architects is highly skilled, that
alone cannot explain the firm’s prodigious output. Most of the
credit probably goes to the sophisticated computer system, which
assists the Nashsan architects so much that they can do the
work of 300 architects.
Nashsan Construction. One of the major construction firms
in the Lyran Commonwealth, Nashsan Construction has been
in business for the past 200 years. Teaming up with Nashsan
Architects of Donegal, Nashsan Construction specializes in large
government and business structures. This one firm is also
responsible for the upkeep of all 124 buildings in the Triad in
Tharkad City. The company has also constructed military strong
points such as the Snake Pit on the planet Skye, which withstood
the onslaught of an entire Kurita battalion. Much of the firm’s skill
can be traced to the use of sophisticated construction robots
similar to those of the Star League era. These are able to interface
with Nashsan computers, giving them a considerable edge in
capabilities and speed.
Nashsan Shipping. This is the smallest division of Nashsan
Diversified. Though it began as the transportation division for
Nashsan Foods, Nashsan Shipping’s head office began to sell
spare cargo space in the company’s freighters to help cut costs.
Since that time, the company’s fleet of freighters has increased
to handle almost all the transportation needs for Nashsan
Diversified. Nashsan Shipping continues to rent out the unused
cargo space on its freighters at reasonable prices. On occasions
when ComStar has used their services, they accommodated
security requests for our cargo without question.
N&D Targeting Computers. The formation of N&D
Targeting Computers was announced just last year. In
an effort to secure a reliable source of BattleMech
computers, Defiance Industries entered into negotiations
with Nashsan Computers several years ago. They
apparently reached a friendly understanding, with the
formation of this company as the result. Some have
speculated that the Steiner government had a hand in the matter,
but our sources have not been able to confirm that. Nashsan
Computers has always been reluctant to share its company
secrets, which makes one wonder how far they will cooperate
with their former rival. The construction of the computer factory,
designed and built by Nashsan, is proceeding apace on Furillo,
to be completed sometime next year.
N&D Shipyards. This company came into being when
Nashsan and Defiance joined to take over Henderson
JumpShips of Alarion Unlimited. This JumpShip construction
company fell victim to an attack by House Marik, thanks to the
former Archon’s ‘Concentrated Weakness’ strategy. Because the
firm was unable to rebuild its war-torn orbiting ship construction
bays, the owners had to declare bankruptcy in 3012. It was not
until last year that the firm was purchased. From what ComStar
has learned of the agreement, most employees of the old
Henderson JumpShips will remain on as the core of the new
company. Given the huge backing that Nashsan and Defiance
are expected to provide, N&D Shipyards should be producing
JumpShips and refueling stations within eight years.
CEO Profile:
Duchess Margaret Doons is a relatively young woman who
inherited her title from her father after his death in a sports plane
accident in 3021. At that time, she had just mustered out of the
military. Given the vastness of the Nashsan empire and her
relative inexperience in business, many expected the senior
officers of the company to find a way to keep her out. Margaret
Doons met the several challenges to her position with some
impressive and sophisticated wheeling and dealing. How she
managed this on so little experience is not known.
The Duchess is obviously an intelligent woman, with a
degree in modern literature from the famed Sorbonne University
on Terra. Though Margaret herself is elegant and gracious,
Nashsan Diversified is known for its sly, even underhanded,
business tactics. The Duchess is the sole force behind the
company since she disbanded the Board of Directors one year
ago. The Eyrie, one of five personal palaces, is home to her
personal collection of rare books and movies. Her interest in
acquiring ancient objects has also brought her the acquaintance
of Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner and Cranston Snord, a
famed mercenary commander and avid collector.
Relations with the Commonwealth Government:
Nashsan Diversified maintains a cool attitude
toward the Lyran government, which has questioned
Nashsan’s business practices on several occasions.
Though the Commonwealth Business Ethics Board
was able to do no more than levy fines, it has made the
firm wary of the government. From the government’s point
of view, Nashsan’s secretiveness tends toward shady deals with
shady characters such as the Malthus family of Dustball. This
mutual distrust is why Nashsan tends to favor efforts by the
Estates General to lessen House Steiner’s power.
The figure in this illustration
wears the crew uniform of the
Nashsan Shipping Company. The
yellow stripes on his cuff identify
him as the first officer of a cargo
DropShip, and the medallion
around his neck indicates the
particular Nashsan JumpShip to
which he is assigned. The batonlike object he carries is a
multipurpose cargo data stick. This
stick reads a bar-code on each
cargo crate and sends the
inventory data to the small
computer worn on the left hip. The
data stick is also a key that unlocks
cargo crates.
With Margaret Doons as Nashsan’s leader, the
tension has been somewhat alleviated. Rumors about
the government’s role in the creation of the joint N&D
ventures and the friendship between Margaret Doons
and the Archon-Designate seem to point to a greater
understanding between the two families. Shots were fired
between Kelly Communications security troops and
Nashsan agents in Nashsan’s recent takeover of the company,
which will probably get Nashsan Diversified into hot water with
the government again.
Security:
Nashsan Security is apparently divided into two groups,
Security Personnel and the Black Guards. Security Personnel
wear brown and yellow uniforms and carry stun-sticks and pistols
or tranq guns. They are the public face of Nashsan’s concern for
privacy. Entrances to Nashsan companies always appear almost
laughably under-manned, with only one or two guards present
at major gates and doorways. This is misleading. There have
been enough failed attempts to raid Nashsan facilities, especially
the computer factories, to make people realize that its security
force has some extremely dangerous allies.
The general public knows the second security group as the
Black Guards, but their official name is unknown. These blackclad men and women seem to appear from nowhere to furiously
attack unauthorized intruders onto Nashsan property, only to
disappear once the threat is vanquished. Reminiscent of
Japanese Ninjas, the Black Guards wield vibro-blades in one
hand and machine pistols in the other. They show no mercy.
Notes:
The greatest mystery about Nashsan Diversified is the
source of all its ultra-sophisticated computer equipment. From
the start, Nashsan was able to produce computer equipment
that out-classed that of any other company. It is possible that
Nashsan has one or more huge caches of Star League
computers. Investigators who have searched out likely locations
for this motherlode of technology have come back empty-handed
or have not come back at all. ComStar agents are currently
preparing to tail certain members of Nashsan Computers, but
will take even greater precautions than usual.
Pictured here is a member of Nashsan’s Security
Personnel. This group guards Nashsan’s factories and
buildings. The guard carries a stun-stick, and wears a tranqgun on his left hip. On his right hip, the guard wears a
communication device, whose microphone and speaker
are carried inside the guard’s helmet.
OTHER MAJOR COMMONWEALTH
INDUSTRIES
Name: Bountiful Delicacies
Commonwealth Stock Exchange Symbol: BoDel
Home Office Location: KevGlen City,
Bountiful Harvest
President/CEO: David Halsf, Baron von Helsing
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
34M S-Bills
1250M S-Bills 654M S-Bills 1.91
Business Summary:
A publicly owned company, Bountiful has slowly evolved
from being a food company dealing only in grains to one famed
for its gourmet items such as White Hart Truffles and Harvest
Caviar. In direct competition with Nashsan Foods, Bountiful has
decided to branch out into aqua-culture and meat production in
a big way to maintain its slight edge over its rival. A recent blight
of Henderson’s Ich wiped out Bountiful’s stock of sturgeon, which
was a major setback to their caviar production. Some of the
firm’s executives point the finger of blame at Nashsan, though
they have no evidence to back up the accusation.
Name: SeraVideo Entertainments Incorporated
Commonwealth Stock Exchange Symbol: SerVid
Home Office Location: Stevensville, Tharkad
President/CEO: Graf Richard F. Evans III
Balance Sheet, Year Ended: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
621M S-Bills
921M S-Bills
1003M S-Bills .92
Business Summary:
SeraVideo is one of the largest manufacturers of consumer
electronics in the Commonwealth, specializing in video
entertainment centers and music reproduction equipment. They
also manufacture equipment for radio and video stations. The
firm has built 22 small factories on the worlds of Tharkad,
Donegal, Skye, Bobruisk, Bolan, and Chahar. SeraVideo is
currently negotiating a lucrative contract with House Steiner to
repair communications equipment used by their ground forces.
If they get the contract, the company stands to gain over 500
million Steiner credits. Their main competition for the contract is
Yulers Electronics.
Name: Commonwealth-Grand Hotel Interstellar
Commonwealth Stock Exchange Symbol: CGHot
Home Office Location: Stanton City, Donegal
CEO: Brian Rikers
Balance Sheet, Year Ended: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
45M S-Bills
1432M S-Bills 1018M S-Bills 1.40
Business Profile:
With over 130 hotels scattered among the major industrial
worlds, Commonwealth-Grand Hotel is the largest such group
in the Steiner realm. Most of these are sprawling affairs, often
taking up several major buildings. The Commonwealth-Grand
prides itself on the many security precautions it provides to its
guests, including bodyguards, security personnel, and many
specially-built private rooms and conference halls. These
precautions have discouraged all but the most determined
would-be assassins, and so visiting dignitaries and diplomats
like to stay at local Commonwealth-Grands and to hold important
meetings and conferences in them.
Name: Water Pure Industries
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: WaPur
Home Office Location: Rio Grande, Corridan IV
President/CEO: Kirkus Tal
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31 v 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
54M S-Bills
921M S-Bills
620M S-Bills 1.48
Business Summary:
Water Pure is the largest of the five Commonwealth
companies currently manufacturing water purification systems.
The main plant on Corridan IV has been destroyed five times
during the Succession Wars, only to be rebuilt slightly bigger
and better each time. The majority of the company’s stock is
owned by its president, Kirkus Tal, formerly an engineer in the
House Steiner military. There are two smaller plants on Freedom
and Ryde that manufacture smaller purification systems as well
as components of the larger system.
Name: Baker Pharmaceuticals
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: BakPhar
Horns Office Location: New Benner, Baker 3
President/CEO: John Sleeth
Name: Vickers Mining
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: ViMin
Home Office Location: Hollers, Derf
President/CEO: Barbara Ewards
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
54M S-Bills
921M S-Bills
620M S-Bills 1.48
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 21, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
45M S-Bills
439M S-Bills
419M S-Bills 1.05
Business Summary:
In recent years, Baker has faced serious financial and
personnel problems. In 3023, the firm had to pay a huge 300
million-credit lawsuit when certain batches of synthetic molecular
antibodies went toxic, killing over 100 soldiers in the LCAF.
Sensing an easy kill, the Nashsan conglomerate moved to take
over Baker Pharmaceuticals the next year. To fight the takeover,
John Sleeth ordered his brokers to buy back all public Baker
stocks at a substantially higher price than Nashsan was offering.
As a result, Baker Pharmaceuticals has been cutting costs
and cutting back their staff. It is uncertain whether the company
can survive the coming year, especially with Nashsan circling
about like a shark.
Business Summary:
The major mining firm in the Trellshire Province, Vickers
has operations on more than 40 worlds, moons, and asteroids.
They specialize in the extraction of rare minerals and have an
impeccable safety record. Vickers was counting on the Wotan
Mole-TS Tunnel Borer (See Wotan Mining Systems) to assist its
work in airless conditions. Because of the tunnel borers
performance, the Vickers operation on the second moon of Apollo
is in question. Unless Vickers is willing to do the job in less-thansafe conditions, another firm less concerned with their
employees’ safety will win the bid.
Name: Doering Electronics
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: DoEl
Home Office Location: Melrose Valley, Hesperus II
President/CEO: Umberto Doering, Graf of the Melrose
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31 9 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
203M S-Bills
1102M S-Bills 982M S-Bills 1.12
Business Summary:
Doering Electronics is a major manufacturer of BattleMech
sensor equipment and neurohelmets. One of its factories is on
Hesperus II and the other is on New Kyoto. Graf Umberto Doering
is on good terms with Duke Brewer of Defiance Industries and
probably hopes to win the hand of Jacqueline Brewer, the Duke’s
attractive daughter.
Name: Wotan Mining Systems
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: WoMnSy
Home Woe Location: Oslo, Wotan
President/CEO: Mitchell Thorson
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31 t 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
32M S-Bills
912M S-Bills
921M S-Bills .99
Business Summary:
Wotan Mining Systems manufactures tunneling and
excavation machinery. Much of what they make has built-in
discernment programs and is therefore capable of unsupervised
operations. The recent failure of their latest tunnel-borer, the
Wotan Mole-TS, has set the company back a few million credits.
Name: Commonwealth Press
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: ComPrs
Home Office Location: Media City, Donegal
President/CEO: Arthur C. Koura, Landgrave of Stimson
Valley
Balance Sheet Year Ending: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
108M S-Bills
384M S-Bills
211M S-Bills 1.82
Business Summary:
Commonwealth Press is the largest news organization
outside of the government press. It has offices on all the major
planets, staffed with print and video reporters ready to cover just
about any type of news. The reports filed by Commonwealth
Press are fed to individual news programs and newspapers that
subscribe to their service.
Politically, Commonwealth Press is decidedly pro-Estates
General. Arthur Koura is a former member of the government’s
Propaganda Corps who grew disenchanted with the
bureaucracy. He left in 2981 to found the Commonwealth Press
from the remains of several news services on Donegal.
Name: Zettle Metals Incorporated
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: ZetMet
Home Office Location: Califar, Hyde
President/CEO: Dale Radant, Baron von Califar
Name: Dobless information Services
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: Dobinf
Home Office Location: New Mannos, Chahar
President/CEO: Jim Tobiason
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
324M S-Bills
1203M S-Bills 923M S-Bills 1.30
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
987M S-Bills
357M S-Bills
218M S-Bills 1.64
Business Summary:
Zettle Metals dates from the pre-Alliance era, making it
perhaps the oldest in the Commonwealth. Though the firm
suffered much during the Succession Wars, it has managed to
survive. The company specializes in the purification of rare
metals, especially those used to construct the BattleMech chassis.
Zettle has three major foundries on Hyde and two more on
Rahne.
Business Summary:
Having started business with information stored in a single
Star League library computer system, Dobless has become the
de facto storehouse of information for the Commonwealth. With
centers on more than 150 worlds, each of its computers stores
information comparable to over one hundred billion books.
The main vaults deep below the main offices on Chahar
are rumored to contain information storage devices that predate man’s ability to travel in space. The rumor is that the Dobless
library computer contains all known information in the universe,
if one knows how to access it. The company is on good terms
with House Steiner, and there are rumors that Jim Tobiason will
be titled at the next session of the Royal Court.
Name: Virtue Cartographers Unlimited
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: VirCart
Home Office Location: Red Light, Virtue
President/CEO: Louis Comrada
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
23M S-Bills
629M S-Bills
406M S-Bills 1.55
Business Summary:
Virtue Cartographers is the premier mapmaker in the
Commonwealth, rivaling the expertise even of ComStar’s
cartographers. Specializing in starmaps, they have close links
with various planetary trading companies and often accompany
them on their more distant journeys.
Louis Comrada is the fifth descendant of the founder of the
company, Roy Comrada, a famed trader. His aim is to begin
purchasing starships so that his cartographers can explore and
map the regions even beyond the Commonwealth border. To
that end, he has entered into negotiations with House Steiner to
buy used military freighters. When the Archon recently learned
of Louis Comrada’s plans, she made it known that he should get
the vessels he wanted.
Name: Edasich Motors
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: EdMot
Home Office Location: Vesteralen, Edasich
President/CEO: Duke Martin Edasich
Principal Divisions
Division Name: Edasich Motors, Edasich
Division Head: Michael Edasich, Baron von Luvanta
Chief Product: Vlar type Engines
Division Name: Edasich Motors, Tentra
Division Head: Nicolas Simons
Chief Products: Pitban type Engines
Division Name: Edasich Research and Development
Division Head: Duke Martin Edasich
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
107M S-Bills
1321M S-Bills 1309M S-Bills 1.01
Business Summary:
The Edasich family took over the operation of two major
fusion engine factories just after the fall of the Star League in
2784. The two factories, which manufacture Vlar and Pitban type
engines, have continued production since then, but at an everslower rate. They currently operate at only one-fifth their former
capacity. Due to the layers upon layers of jury-rigged systems,
these factories can no longer be repaired, and so Duke Edasich
is considering building another plant on a more peaceful world.
When he learned that Defiance Industries was trying to build its
own engine plant, the Duke’s project took on a new urgency.
Defiance is the best customer of Edasich, whose large engines
power most of Defiance’s famous Zeus and Atlas assault ‘Mechs.
Name: Rastaban Agricultural
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: RasCosm
Home Office Location: Uralsk, Rastaban
President/CEO: Sandi Lyste,
Duchess of Rastaban
Principal Division
Division Name: Rastaban Grains
Division Head: Xuong Luosey
Chief Products: High-yield Grains
Division Name: Rastaban Agricultural Equipment
Division Head: Miasak Lyste
Chief Products: Farming machinery
Division Name: Rastaban Freight Service
Division Head: Franklin Crostic
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31 v 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
216M S-Bills
1634M S-Bills 1798M S-Bills .91
Business Summary:
Rastaban Agricultural Products is one of the Lyran
Commonwealth’s major exporters. The company owns some
five trillion acres spread over five worlds, and these produce
high-yield, quick-growing grains, most of which are harvested
and shipped to various offworld customers. The largest customer
for Rastaban’s grains is the Draconis Combine. Because House
Kurita often fails to produce enough food for its many worlds
due to inept management and harsh labor policies, its agents
buy huge amounts of Commonwealth grain through third parties.
The Commonwealth government supports this business effort,
and actively encourages Rastaban to seek even more business
across the border.
Name: Gienah Automotive
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: GieAut
Home Office Location: Molfetta, Gienah
President/CEO: Donald McNab
Principal Divisions
Division Name: Gienah Trucks
Division Head: Dorothy Kristernick
Chief Products: Trucks and special-purpose vehicles
Division Name: Gienah Cars
Division Head: Merril McKeough
Chief Products: Cars and all-terrain vehicles
Division Name: Gienah Combat Vehicles
Division Head: Lucas Hicks
Chief Products: Wheeled military vehicles
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31 @ 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
34M S-Bills
1645M S-Bills 1325M S-Bills 1.24
Business Summary:
Gienah Automotive has long been a manufacturer of
wheeled vehicles for the Commonwealth. Though established
just prior to the Second Succession War, most of its factories on
Gienah are still able to churn out cars, trucks, and military vehicles.
The Free Worlds League, especially the technology-poor worlds
near the border, is one of the company’s major customers.
Name: Malthus Gambling Unlimited
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: (Expelled in ’21)
Home Office Location: New Monaco, Dustball
President/CEO: Graf Mitch ‘The Dean’ Malthus
Principal Divisions
Division Name: Malthus Betting
Division Head: Timothy Mackay
Chief Products: Betting establishments
Division Name: Malthus Racetracks
Division Head: Sparky Hood
Chief Products: Racetracks for horses, dogs, and
Tharkad gazelle
Division Name: Malthus’s Friendly Escorts
Division Head: Janice Macy
Chief Products: Providing men and women with
physical entertainment skills to wealthy clients
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
526M S-Bills
1437M S-Bills 543M S-Bills 2.65
Business Summary:
Malthus Gambling Unlimited is the legal front for the largest
organized crime family in the Lyran Commonwealth. Using the
firm as the means to gain entry onto planets, the Malthus family
then starts a gradual build-up of various criminal schemes, all
aimed at gaining money and power. This infestation was
especially effective on three planets around the family’s
homeworld of Dustball. The Lyran government threw the
company’s stock off the Exchange in 3021 when it was finally
able to prove that Malthus had not paid taxes to the
Commonwealth for 20 years. Steiner agents of the Organized
Crime Unit have been unable to infiltrate the family business
structure, which is an airtight organization.
Name: Toloy Chemicals
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: ToiChem
Home Office Location: Moravska Ostrava, Alkaid
President/CEO: Janine Toloy, Baroness von Wurzburg
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
399M S-Bills
1074M S-Bills 871M S-Bills 1.23
Business Summary:
Toloy Chemicals is a key industry in the Commonwealth
because so many other industries depend on its various products.
Toloy consists of 20 factories scattered throughout the dry world
of Alkaid. When Duke Charles Toloy was killed in a recent
accident, it triggered a major power struggle within the company.
Janine Toloy has assumed control of her father’s company for
the moment, but her cousin Delbert has instituted a legal
challenge to her right of inheritance. Lyran business leaders
throughout the realm are watching closely, for a split of Toloy
Chemicals would no doubt seriously weaken its ability to
function.
TRADE WITH OTHER SUCCESSOR
STATES
Name: Longanecker PlastiSteel
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: LnkrPiSt
Home Office Location: Hofuf, Pherkad
President/CEO: Edward Hanlin,
Landgrave of Erfurt
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
349M S-Bills
568M S-Bills
385M S-Bills 1.47
Business Summary:
Longanecker PlastiSteel was formed in 2899, when
Longanecker Plastics and Simpson’s Synthetics merged. Since
that time, the company’s line of synthetic materials that are both
strong and lightweight has become increasingly successful.
Edward Hanlin and the firm’s top executive are currently
considering opening a group of factories on the nearby world of
Vaj II.
Name: Acrux Agricultural Industries
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: AxAgriln
Home Office Location: Illampu, Acrux
President/CEO: Carma Rosado, Graf of Illampu District
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31, 3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
25M S-Bills
568M S-Bills
419M S-Bills 1.36
Business Summary:
After its president absconded with most of the company’s
cash and assets in 3019, Acrux Agricultural underwent a major
reorganization. Under Carma Rosado, the future of the firm
seems good. It has already posted impressive first-year earnings
and has made many contracts with prospective clients, both in
the Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League.
Name: The Lyran Free Traders Association
Commonwealth Stock Market Symbol: LyFrTr
Home Office Location: Gomel, Tharkad
President/CEO: Terry Gilyest
Balance Sheet, Year Ending: December 31,3024
Cash
Assets
Liabilities
Ratio
18M S-Bills
429M S-Bills
402M S-Bills 1.06
Business Summary:
The Lyran Free Traders Association represents over 200
unaffiliated intersystem cargoships and interstellar freighters. It
was created in the early 28th century to provide information that
would help its members to compete against the major corporate
traders like Ceres Metals or the Synguard Corporation. The
Association provides its subscribers with information on the
wants and needs of planets throughout the Commonwealth.
The system also provides emergency funds and medical care
for its members. Most LFTA members are daring enough to
venture regularly into the Periphery and other Successor States.
With the recent Steiner/Davion alliance, many of the Association’s
jump-capable freighters are plying their wares in the Federated
Suns.
Almost everything that the Lyran Commonwealth
produces is valued by the other Successor States. This
is because the expertise and technology that go into
Lyran products make them more efficient and more
durable than comparable items from other states. As a result,
there is a lucrative market for Commonwealth goods in the other
Successor States, whether condoned by the government or not.
Another factor that makes House Steiner goods so profitable
is the uncanny ability of Lyran traders to analyze in which markets
they will best sell a particular item. Recent observations by
ComStar representatives in the Commonwealth point to the
possibility that this much-envied ability may have secret help.
After the occurrence of severe natural disasters on worlds in the
Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation, we monitored
the movements of Lyran traders toward those stricken planets
on four separate occasions. One trader named Gregory
Fitzwaters was so swift that he had arrived above the planet and
was selling his wares five days before the first official relief forces
arrived from the Draconis Combine government. This points to
the possibility that the Lyran Intelligence Corps is feeding
information to the Lyran Free Traders Association.
If true, this would support the theory that the Steiner
government is actively fostering dependence on its products
among the other Successor States. Though the evidence is still
sketchy, it is obvious that the current Archon takes great interest
in the doings of Lyran industries. Most would also agree that the
Commonwealth’s financial services are almost blatant in
encouraging firms to export all but the their most advanced items.
The recent alliance between Davion and Steiner will only
strengthen the Commonwealth’s power. It seems clear that
ComStar should begin formulating a strategy to deal with the
possibility that House Steiner may one day economically
dominate the Inner Sphere.
FREE WORLDS LEAGUE
Despite centuries of war, relations between House
Steiner and House Marik have never really deteriorated
to the point that the two Houses ceased trading with one
another. On the rare occasions that House Marik tried to
create official policy that would have cut off the eager
Lyran traders, the fractured nature of Marik politics left
many of its worlds more than happy to foster a black market in
Commonwealth products.
Computers are the most sought-after Commonwealth
product in the Free Worlds League, where an intricate maze of
bureaucracies continually threatens to drown the realm in
paperwork. The high abilities of Nashsan, Crowley, and IsBM
computers often represent the only hope some worlds have of
staying a step ahead of red-tape oblivion. The Steiner
government does impose restrictions on what type computers
can be sold to House Marik, but it also knows of the lucrative
black market for other types-an illegal activity the government
seems content to ignore.
Marik worlds the lie along the Commonwealth border
suffered the most damage from the wars, and are usually in
desperate need of farming machinery. Planets like Chertan,
Alhena, Alkes, and Zosma simply cannot grow enough food.
The Steiner government has responded to appeals from these
worlds by selling them food shipments as well as permitting
agribusiness like Bountiful Delicacies And Acrux Agricultural to
negotiate for the sale of their products.
Other Commonwealth items that the Free Worlds League
wants are JumpShip parts, fish and game stock to repopulate
depleted worlds, and wheeled vehicles.
The Commonwealth actively imports many items from the
Free Worlds League, placing only a minor import tax on items
such as rare hardwoods and miniature parrots from Paradise,
furs from the wilds of Tanis Australis, and gemstones and raw
petroleum from Alula Australis.
Both the Commonwealth government and the Free
Worlds League require that all traders entering and
leaving their realms submit to a vessel search. The LCAF
carries out the searches for House Steiner, a routine
duty usually assigned to common soldiers who are not
too diligent in their efforts. Ford, Glausar, and
Commonwealth Pollux are the three most popular jump
points for traders entering the Free Worlds League, which is
quickly turning these planets into economic boom worlds.
THE DRACONIS COMBINE
The lucrative House Kurita markets are just as attractive to
Lyran traders, but they must be especially cautious in dealing
with the Combine’s irascible, unpredictable officials.
The worlds of the Combine are hungry for what Steiner
merchants have to offer. Among the Kurita elite, gourmet foods
from the Commonwealth are much sought after items. At the
other extreme, Kurita worlds where the population is artificially
high offer a strong, sometimes desperate market for basic food
supplies. It is a telling fact about life in the Draconis Combine
that these two demands often come from the same world.
Other Commonwealth items in demand within the Combine
include plastisteel, Kefrena moldable concrete, and other special
building materials used in constructing public buildings and
private palaces. These materials are particularly suited to the
ornate architecture that some call Draconian Baroque and others
call Kurita Kitsch.
Other best-sellers in Kurita are high-tech items such as
computers, automatic mapping drones, and mining robots
(particularly sought-after equipment). Odd as it seems, the
Combine market is also strong for Lyran toys and for
entertainment systems for making films or for equipping video
and radio stations. The Kurita elite’s fascination with toys ranges
from the Dickly Birds for toddlers to automated mannequins of
dubious moral value from Dustball. These desires may puzzle
Lyran traders, but they happily supply them anyway.
Finely-crafted weaponry such as swords, daggers,
rifles, and bows also intrigue the wealthy Kurita nobility.
Some traders speculate that this is a vestige of the
Combine’s ancient warrior tradition, and so they stay alert
for news of discoveries of antique weaponry. Because
such items sell at huge profits in the Combine, Lyran
traders often travel long distances to secure even a few
pieces of weaponry. As long as the weapons are of pre-laser
technology, the Steiner government tolerates this practice.
Getting the weapons past the Kurita border guards is often a
very tricky business, however. It requires either hefty bribes or
hiding places ingenious enough to get past the rigorous Kurita
searches.
Of the very few products that House Steiner imports from its
Kurita neighbor, alcoholic beverages are the biggest sellers.
Port Moseby, Tamar, and Carse are the two most popular jump
points for Commonwealth traders.
One of the biggest Capellan markets is for hightech farming equipment or molecular-type fertilizers to
boost the yields of its food-growing planets. Because
most worlds in the Sarna and Tikonov Commonalities
are either industrialized or in ruins, the remaining
farmlands are barely sufficient to support even one
planet’s population.
Another sought-after Commonwealth product is
interplanetary communications equipment. With ComStar’s strict
rule of neutrality during wars between Successor States, our
first-come-first-served policy has angered military commanders
on many occasions. The Capellan Confederation particularly
despises this policy, because any delay in their military
communications could prove disastrous for the entire realm.
Because the Liao military wants communication between worlds
without having to be dependent on ComStar, they are good
customers for Lyran com gear, even though it has nowhere near
the capabilities of ours.
THE CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION
The status of trade between the Lyran Commonwealth and
House Liao’s Capellan Confederation depends on the current
military situation between House Steiner and House Marik. In
times of heavy fighting, Janos Marik will stop Commonwealth
traders from attempting to cross his realm into the Capellan
Confederation for fear that those two Houses are concocting
some dangerous scheme. It is for this reason that Lyran traders
avoid Marik interference by stopping off at our beloved Sol on
their way into the Capellan Confederation.
Because Houses Steiner and Liao have had so little political
or military contact, their trade relations are not marked by the
distrust that Steiner merchants encounter elsewhere. Indeed,
Maximilian Liao courts Commonwealth traders, because he is
more in need of Lyran technology than any of the other Successor
Lords. As a result, the Confederation places no restrictions on
what can be traded and what cannot.
In return, the Capellan Confederation sells the Lyrans a
wide variety of grains and domestic animals unique to its worlds.
The Commonwealth agribusinesses hope to breed their own
varieties of these rare and potentially profitable plants and
animals. Though past efforts to import these unusual species
have set off serious epidemics of plant and animal diseases,
scientists on both sides have now found ways to hold the problem
to a minimum. It is expected that within the next five years, the
Lyrans will begin importing Capellan grains and food animals
such as Kaifeng Cows and Nihal Whale-Sardines.
THE FEDERATED SUNS
The recent alliance between the Lyran
Commonwealth and the Federated Suns has created a
huge boom in trade between these two Successor States
in the past three years. By reducing the regulations
restricting trade, the flow of goods between the two
Houses has more than tripled. Their only real concern
now is to prevent plagues and diseases from crossing each
other’s borders.
The most important exchange between the newly allied
realms is, of course, in the field of military information and
technology. Though hard evidence is difficult to obtain, our
sources have gathered much information about the trade in
military technology. They have already confirmed that the
Commonwealth has begun production of the sophisticated
Hatchetman BattleMech, a design apparently created in the
Federated Suns by the enigmatic Dr. B. Banzai and Team Banzai.
There are also reports of the appearance of brand new
Dervishes in the Commonwealth military, a design not seen for
the past 50 years. Another cloud of rumors concerns the potential
exchange of various weapon systems-from the Commonwealth
Rommel/Patton tanks to the Federated Suns’ Drillson Heavy
Hovercraft. The trade of such military secrets indicates how close
this alliance may have become. In all likelihood, House Steiner
will use its formidable technology to build up the militaries of
both realms.
In response to an upsurge of popular curiosity, both
governments have recently sent cultural exchanges. Currently,
a group of reporters and writers from the Federated Suns is
touring the Commonwealth as guests of the government, for
example.
This mutual public interest in each other’s realms has spilled
over into the trade market. The people of the Lyran
Commonwealth are currently infatuated with anything built,
raised, or created in the Federated Suns. Of particular interest
are yachts from the New Avalon Shipyards, Mara Trout, or any
movie or book about House Davion. It is much the same among
the Federated Suns, where people cannot get enough of House
Steiner’s more frivolous items such as fashions, gourmet foods,
and entertainment equipment.
If the alliance holds steady, it is more than likely that a huge
rise in inter-state contracts between industries will occur in the
next five years. The Commonwealth will no doubt want to take
advantage of the Federated Suns’ many natural resources. In
turn, the Federated Suns could hope to benefit from the
Commonwealth’s huge industrial capacity.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
The economy of the Lyran Commonwealth is based
upon the largest collection of industrial worlds in the
Inner Sphere. To help feed this industrial juggernaut,
House Steiner has many food-growing planets working
at full steam as well as the potentially valuable
agricultural worlds in the Protectorate of Donegal. House Steiner
also has the most stable monetary system, with an average
inflation rate of a meager 3 percent. Indeed, the buying power of
its House Bill outstrips even ComStar currency. In short, the
economy of the Lyran Commonwealth is at its strongest now
since the fall of the old Star League. Add to this the vast resources
and new ideas from the Federated Suns and the result is a
combined power that can, and will, come to dominate the entire
Inner Sphere by sheer economic force within 20 years.
As for weakness, there is the minor possibility that the
growing closeness of the two economies might trigger an
economic crisis or even a depression among the Steiner worlds.
The Lyran government’s diligence in correcting economic
problems quickly and decisively makes this unlikely, but it bears
watching.
A second possibility is that the needs and desires of both
realms will outstrip the capacity of the Commonwealth industries.
The far-sighted Lyrans have recently stepped up construction of
new factories throughout the Commonwealth, which indicates
that its business leaders have a solid plan for the future.
If another major escalation in the Succession Wars were to
prevent traders from traveling freely back and forth between
Houses Steiner and Davion, it would leave the Lyrans with a
glut of products and the danger of serious economic recession
or depression. Another possibility is that military escalation would
make prime targets of House Steiner’s busy factories. The Lyrans’
greatest strength is also their greatest potential weakness.
PERSONALITIES
Name: Katrina Elizabeth Steiner
Title: Duchess of Tharkad
Position: Archon
Birthplace: New Stockholm, Gallery
Age: 49
Sex: Female
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Every 20 Kroner bill and every Kroner coin in the Lyran
Commonwealth bears Katrina Steiner’s regally beautiful likeness.
Her portrait hangs in the lobby of every LCCS embassy. She has
also been the subject of countless video hours. Even in the
vastness of her realm, most Lyrans would probably recognize
their Archon’s sharp features, steel grey eyes, long blond hair,
and tall muscular frame.
Brief Personal History:
After a long and difficult delivery, Katrina Steiner was born
in her family’s mansion on Gallery on October 20, 2976. The
doctors predicted that the sickly infant might not live out her first
year, but they were wrong. Her father, General Alexandr Weldon,
later said he knew Katrina would survive because of “that Steiner
fire glinting in her eyes”.
As she grew older and stronger, the family physicians
prescribed daily exercise and long walks through the
countryside, which she still practices regularly when she can.
With her will growing as strong as her body, the twelve-year-old
Katrina coaxed her parents into permitting her to learn to pilot a
‘Mech at that tender age. To Katrina, BattleMechs were giant
toys, not death machines of war. She thought they were there for
the fun of stomping up and down Gallery’s hills and valleys or to
give the herd and flock animals a scare. She was soon pitting
her small ‘Mech against that of her younger sister, Nondi, who
had learned to pilot one at the even younger age of 11.
A mere 18 when she graduated from the Nagelring Military
Academy, Katrina applied for and received a posting to the 3rd
Arcturan Lancers as a combat infantry officer (despite the
objections of her instructors, who said she had the talent to
immediately become a battalion commander in a ‘Mech
regiment). After a year with the Lancers, she requested a transfer
to the 28th Tharkad Armored Cavalry regiment. From there, she
moved on to the 2nd Skye Artillery regiment after another year.
Katrina had a good reason for this rather vagabond
approach to the military. By moving from service to service, she
would learn exactly how soldiers from each fighting branch
experienced a battle. She realized that this knowledge would
be crucial when the day came for her to plan her own major
battles. The tiny symbols on the computer screens would always
represent flesh and blood men and women to her, and never
merely expendable digits.
When she was assigned to the 10th Lyran Guards, a ‘Mech
regiment stationed on the Free Worlds League border, Katrina
continued her personal training by deliberately starting out as a
lance commander. Again, those around her protested that she
was carrying her education a bit too far. She kept rising up the
chain of command, and by the end of her second year, Katrina
Steiner was commander of the 10th Lyran Guards. While under
her command, the regiment carried out many daring maneuvers,
including a defense of Hesperus II that thwarted an attack by
House Marik. After serving with the unit for four years, Katrina
Steiner was transferred to command the 2nd Royal Guards,
where she spent three noteworthy years.
From there, Katrina Steiner was promoted to the Strategy
and Tactics Division of LCAF. Though saddened at leaving her
comrades and the dusty panic of the battlefield, she accepted
the promotion. Much to the consternation of the older officers,
she was able to hone her skills as a military strategist and
showed the ability to create daring battle plans.
This success at the think-tank was soon completely
overshadowed by Katrina Steiner’s mysterious, year-long
disappearance in 3005. ComStar investigators have been able
to trace her movements and whereabouts up to the time of her
arrival on the planet Poulsbo in February of that year. Her official
reason for being there was to inspect Bangor, the planet’s sole
military base. Yet, according to records from Bangor and the
nearby city of Hammerfest, her face was not seen again after
disembarking the DropShip that brought her down. Every week,
the Commonwealth Enquirer published a new theory about
where she was, but the royal family would make no comment.
When Katrina reappeared at Archon Alessandro’s
birthday celebration on Tharkad in March of the next year,
the Archon greeted her cordially but gave no
acknowledgement of her long absence. We can only
speculate on what happened to Katrina during that year.
Some think that the young woman disappeared to give
birth to a child, but it is unlikely that any Steiner woman
would end up in such a predicament of having a child out of
wedlock. Some believe she was on a secret mission. Other
rumors say that Katrina Steiner was kidnapped, a theory that
bears exploring. After that year of absence, there were marked
changes in the young woman’s character.
One of the more notable changes was in her attitude to the
Archon. Before the disappearance, she and Alessandro had
been on civil, if not warm, terms, with the Archon often referring
to Katrina as his “loyal lioness”. After the missing year, Katrina
grew cold, even hostile to her cousin. In a very unusual move,
she requested and was granted the use of her old regiment to
search out a bandit force along the Periphery. This was irregular
because such a mission was so costly, and even more so when
the Archon granted the request. Other changes showed up in
the way Katrina masterfully marshaled enough support to win
the Archonship several years later. Whatever happened to
Katrina, it clearly taught her something that would sweep her to
rulership of the whole Lyran Commonwealth in 3007.
After consolidating her hold upon the realm, Katrina married
Arthur Luvon, Duke of Donegal and her long-time friend and
lover, in 3009. Their nuptial contract included the now-standard
Steiner stipulation that ensured the continuing rulership of the
Steiner blood and name. Melissa Arthur Steiner was born in
3010, in the same year that her father Duke Luvon died of cancer.
Though there have been several temporary liaisons and a few
close friendships with men since then, Katrina Steiner has never
shown the slightest inclination toward remarrying or even taking
a permanent lover. She must have taken the loss of her first
husband very hard.
Whatever her personal grief, the death of her husband
coincided with a new age in the Commonwealth. Apparently
dissatisfied with the status quo, Katrina began, slowly at first, to
introduce innovations into the Commonwealth government and
society. The culmination of these changes was the House
Steiner’s recent alliance with Hanse Davion and his Federated
Suns.
Personality:
Motivation/Desires/Goals:
Katrina Steiner, like so many Steiner women before
her, is driven to see that the Commonwealth maintains
its prosperity. The chauvinists say that this is merely her
maternal instinct for the billions of citizens in her realm.
The more astute recognize the plainer political truth: one
who rules over a contented citizenry is more likely to stay in
power.
An intelligent and direct woman, Katrina favors people and
plans that share these traits. Nor will she suffer fools whose
egos are overblown or who put on airs about their achievements.
It is what the person is trying to accomplish, and not what he did
yesterday, that interests the Archon. This is why one of her current
projects is an attempt to clean up corruption in the LCAF High
Command and to streamline its bloated bureaucracy of inept
peacocks.
Manner:
In public, Katrina Steiner is cool and efficient. Unless deeply
provoked, she rarely reveals her emotions. Even when angered,
she usually manages to speak and act with a calm and quiet
more menacing than any outburst. Indeed, Katrina is not much
given to gestures or other physical expressions of her state of
heart or mind. Indeed, Duke Bradford, the Commonwealth
Casanova, is the only person who can automatically evoke the
Archon’s smile.
This regal aplomb might indicate that Katrina Steiner is a
cold and aloof woman, but that impression is false. With intimates
such as her daughter, her sister, friends like Duke Bradford, and
comrades from her combat days, she is as open and friendly as
in the days of her girlhood. In private, she is fond of telling long,
ornate tales about Commonwealth history, reciting poetry, or
playing the games of skill at which she so excels.
Special Skills/Powers:
The Archon is a deadly shot with most weapons. She prefers
older, slug-throwing pistols because they demand much more
skill than the simple point-and-shoot of laser weapons. She is
also skilled with a bow. Her skill at strategy games is also
renowned. She especially enjoys chess, go, shogi (Japanese
chess), and Trade Dominos, a game that originated on Donegal.
Katrina is also a serious student of both Commonwealth and
Star League history.
Name: Melissa Arthur Steiner
Title: Landgrave von Bremen
Position: Archon-Designate
Birthplace: Royal Palace, Tharkad City
Age: 15
Sex: Female
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
The golden-haired Melissa is a tall and beautiful young
woman. She is also the media darling of the Lyran
Commonwealth, with many a young girl imitating her look and
manner and many a young man ready to fall hopelessly in love
with her.
Brief Personal History:
Melissa was born and raised in the Royal Palace in Tharkad
City. As a child, she first endeared herself to the Lyran people by
running through the forest of people’s legs in the Throne Room,
in order to jump into her mother’s lap. She also developed the
habit of prattling enough to interrupt the serious business of the
realm with questions no one seemed able to answer to her
satisfaction.
Since then, Melissa Steiner’s thirst for knowledge has only
grown more vast. With the girl becoming a voracious reader in
three languages (Standard, German, and French), her mother
has had to double the number of tutors to keep up with her
racing intellect. Though only 15, Melissa has already reached
university level in her studies.
Unlike her mother, however, Melissa Steiner shows an
aversion to the military and war. In simulator training, the girl
showed little natural aptitude for piloting a ‘Mech or an AeroSpace
Fighter. Curiously enough, she has considerable skill in small
weapons tactics. As her mother is unlikely to send her only heir
to lead a platoon of jump infantry, fair Melissa will probably
never know battle.
Personality:
Motivation/Desires/Goals:
Melissa does not look forward to the enormous
responsibility of one day ruling the Commonwealth. She would
much rather become a historian like her close friend Thelos
Auburn. At the ripe age of 15, the hormonal peaks and valleys of
adolescence are also starting to show up as odd mood swings
and unpredictability. Her mother worries about her daughter’s
scholarliness, which prevents her from making many friends
her own age.
Melissa is close to two other Palace adolescents, however.
Misha Auburn, the daughter of Thelos, is a pretty 17-year-old
currently training to take on her father’s role of Court historian
when he retires. Melissa’s other friend is Egan Telosa, the 16year-old son of the Steiner’s personal chef Althea. Together, the
three probably know more about the labyrinth of rooms and
corridors of the royal residence on Tharkad than even the original
architects.
Though she has her own romantic notions about love and
betrothal, Melissa is intrigued by Hanse Davion. It is known that
when Ardan Sortek, a close personal friend of Hanse, came to
Tharkad to recuperate from battle wounds, Melissa questioned
him interminably about her future husband. Barring unforeseen
incidents, the fair Melissa might easily fall in love with the dynamic
Prince of the Federated Suns.
Manner:
Partly because of her youthful inexperience, Melissa has
an innocent, pensive air about her. She is often shy, particularly
when meeting strangers, appearing before large crowds, or in
the presence of people she greatly respects. In situations where
she is comfortable, however, she is usually eager to talk, discuss,
or just have fun. Though slightly more animated than her mother,
Melissa also has a tendency to sit and brood about deeply felt
issues. When relaxed enough, she has a quick, sometimes
deadly, wit. Though she has become aware of how her beauty
affects men, she is still too shy to play the coquette or to use her
charms to win favors.
Special Skills/Powers:
While Katrina prefers games of skill, Melissa loves games
of chance. Whether the game is poker, backgammon, or Tamar
dicing, Melissa shows shrewd skill and sometimes extraordinary
luck. She is becoming quite expert at judging odds and
probabilities, a skill that will serve her well as Archon.
Being so introspective, it is not surprising that Melissa loves
to leave the Triad behind for long wilderness hikes or a ride on
one of her many horses, which are another passion. Though
expert with a bow, Melissa shows only average skill with most
weapons.
Name: Frederick Steiner
Title: Duke of Duran, Colonel
Position: Commander of the 10th Lyran Guards
Birthplace: Quwansner, Duran
Age: 53
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Though the Archon is only his cousin, Frederick and his
rival Katrina show a striking resemblance. His blond hair has
darkened and grayed, but both have the same steel-grey eyes
whose gaze can pierce like a laser bolt. The slight scar above
Frederick’s right eye is a reminder of the day he cracked his
head while ejecting from a burning Phoenix Hawk as a young
MechWarrior.
Brief Personal History:
After graduating with honors from Sanglamore on Skye,
Frederick went on to distinguish himself in actions against House
Kurita as commander of the 7th Lyran Regulars and then the
10th Lyran Guards. Not as flashy or prone to the eccentric tactics
Katrina favors, he is nevertheless effective on the field.
After Archon Alessandro’s disastrous policy of
‘Concentrated Weakness’, many at the Royal Court believed
that Frederick was the Steiner most likely to overthrow the Archon.
They assumed that Frederick’s many friends and contacts
throughout the military and nobility would give him the support
to successfully move against the Palace. Few counted on the
power and charisma that young Katrina Steiner was able to
muster in an amazingly short time.
When Alessandro fell and Katrina rose to the Archonship,
Frederick at first wanted to revolt openly. Rumor has it that Duke
Aldo Lestrade had to physically restrain Frederick from ordering
his regiment to load up and travel to Tharkad for an attack on the
Triad. To vent his frustrated rage, the Duke and his regiment
instead took out their anger in a sudden unauthorized raid
against the Draconis Combine.
Since then, Duke Lestrade, has urged Frederick Steiner not
to reveal his hatred of Katrina Steiner, though Frederick has
already orchestrated two attempts to assassinate the woman he
calls “the Witch” These attempts have so far failed miserably.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Frederick Steiner has only one goal, that of becoming
Archon. To win that goal, he seems willing to try anything. Though
he may not trust Duke Lestrade fully, Frederick has come to
depend on the older man’s counsel and friendship. It is probable
that Lestrade was the actual mastermind behind the recent
assassination attempts. Being a career military man, Frederick
Steiner’s political actions tend to depend more on strength and
force than on cunning and guile. He is almost incapable of
subtlety, tending to view all situations as win-or-lose.
Manner:
Outgoing and even warm to those he believes are friends,
Frederick is an equally ruthless, dangerous enemy to those who
are not. He generally scorns displays of formal courtesy, and
likes to roughhouse when dining with his troops. He manages to
tone down his crude manner when in the presence of Katrina or
her allies, channeling his venom toward the Archon by wearing
the gaudiest possible dress uniform because he knows it will irk
her.
Special Skills/Powers:
Frederick Steiner is an expert MechWarrior as well as an
expert Tech for his Zeus. He likes physical games such as rugby
and Skye basketball, a mixture of basketball and street brawling
in which players use pugilistic skills against their opponents.
Name: Aldo Lestrade IV
Title: Duke of Summer
Birthplace: Mount Curitiba, Summer
Age: 44
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Duke Aldo Lestrade is a short, squat man who walks with a
noticeable limp. As a result of wounds in a Kurita raid, his left hip
socket had to be replaced. He lost his left arm in the same battle
and now wears an artificial limb of the highest quality available.
There are unsubstantiated reports that the arm was custombuilt to include unusual modifications, one of which is a weapon.
Brief Personal History:
Duke Lestrade was the youngest child of a large noble
family. Without much to look forward to in the way of inheritance,
Aldo tried to content himself with the life of a minor noble on his
native world of Summer. Then a series of family arguments and
unexpected deaths put Aldo next in line to inherit the Dukedom.
In 3005, House Kurita launched a raid against the Lestrade
castle on Mount Curitiba. When a company from the 3rd Royal
Guards finally drove off the attackers, they discovered Aldo’s
father dead and Aldo grievously wounded. According to early
reports filed by the Royal Guards, the Duke was killed by a slug
from a pistol much like the one found in Aldo Lestrade’s rooms.
Later reports filed by the planetary garrison stated that the Duke
was killed by a laser bolt rather than a bullet.
Though these conflicting reports raised many questions,
Aldo Lestrade had enough political finesse to prevent an open
investigation. As soon as he officially became the new Duke of
Summer, he immediately began his anti-Commonwealth tirade.
Among his many complaints, he blamed the Royal Guards for
deliberate laxness in defense of his homeworld and blamed
them for his father’s death. This was only the first in a long string
of incidents meant to stir up separatist sentiment among the
people of his province. The Steiner government has done what
it could to counter the Duke’s complaints both privately and
publicly, but the charismatic Lestrade has inspired a steadily
growing movement to support him. This movement includes many
young people fanatically devoted to the separatist idea. They
treat the Duke as their unquestioned, almost god-like, leader.
As if his strident public posture were not enough, the Duke’s
private machinations have proven even more dangerous to the
Steiners. Many suspect that Aldo Lestrade is the real mastermind
behind Duke Frederick Steiner’s two assassination attempts
against the Archon.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
As the youngest in a large family, Aldo learned early to
scheme for the affections of his parents. When feeling rejected,
he reacted by finding ways to show his elder siblings in a bad
light. This craving for affection and the scheming it spawned
have survived into Lestrade’s adult life. Now, instead of trying to
blame one of his brothers for stealing a few coins from the family,
he is trying to alter the way billions of people think and live.
The Duke is a sensualist who adores the finest food, the
finest liqueurs, and the finest in bed companions. He is not above
blackmail and/or murder if that is what it takes to see his desires
realized. One of his greatest pleasures comes from the adulation
of the young people devoted to his cause.
With his glib charm, Duke Aldo Lestrade is often the center
of attention at social gatherings. He loves to tell entertaining
fables, all of which seem to have the same central theme: to
subtly cast a negative light on the basic inadequacy of female
rulers.
For all his social veneer, Aldo Lestrade loses his temper
easily. At those times, his fearsome fits and tantrums seem nearly
apoplectic.
Special Skills/Powers:
Duke Aldo is an expert on Renaissance Italy, especially the
finer points of Machiavellian politics and the lives of the devious
Borgias.
Name: Harrison Bradford
Title/Rank: Duke of Coventry, Leutnant-General
(Retired)
Birthplace: Castle Arianrod, Coventry
Age: 45
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Duke Bradford is a tall man with long, black hair. An ugly
scar runs down the whole left side of his face, the mark of a lash
from a neural whip. Scar notwithstanding, Bradford has a likeable
appearance because of his roguish, ever-present grin.
Brief History:
Duke Bradford and the Archon have known each other for
at least 20 years. They first became friends when Katrina Steiner
commanded the 10th Lyran Guards and Duke Bradford was
one of her battalion leaders. When Katrina Steiner left to
command the Royal Guards, she requested that Duke Bradford
accompany her to head up her command staff.
Harrison Bradford is an incurable romantic whose many
love affairs are the subject of both interest and amusement at
the Royal Court. He is devoted to Katrina Steiner, who has made
him a trusted unofficial advisor on all issues. This, of course, has
set off considerable speculation about a possible romance
between the two. This may have existed in their early days in the
LCAF, but it was Duke Bradford who introduced Katrina Steiner
to her future husband, Duke Luvon. He was also best man at
their wedding.
They are clearly the best of friends. When Duke Bradford
appears before Katrina Steiner in the Royal Court, the two banter
as only two old friends can. The Archon usually tries to embarrass
her friend by questioning him publicly and in detail about his
latest romantic escapade, much to the amusement of the many
who gather for the fun. Duke Bradford seems not the least
embarrassed by this teasing and invariably replies with goodnatured sallies about the Archon’s lack of a bed partner. These
exchanges have been known to pass quickly from the risqué to
the downright obscene, which only the most prudish courtiers
seem to mind. Indeed, it is rare enough for them to see Katrina
Steiner smiling, laughing, and so thoroughly enjoying herself.
Personality:
Motivation/Desires/Goals:
Duke Bradford is as devoted to the backwater worlds of the
Commonwealth as he is to Katrina Steiner. Seeing the untapped
potential of those worlds along the Periphery, he has become
their unofficial spokesman. Though a bit uncertain about the
alliance with the Federated Suns, Bradford trusts the Archon’s
judgment and hopes the union will benefit the undeveloped
worlds he favors.
Duke Bradford readily falls in love, viewing the fact that
objects of his affection always seem to be married as a regrettable
coincidence. Though fleeing from bedrooms is becoming more
difficult for his aging body, no one expects him to change.
Harrison Bradford has an adolescent son named Thomas,
who was born of a tragic love affair. Thomas was apparently
following in his father’s footsteps when he recently made a pass
at a mature, beautiful woman who, unknown to him, just
happened to rule the Lyran Commonwealth. Katrina Steiner
was flattered and very amused.
Manner:
A sincere and courteous man, Harrison Bradford comes
alive in the presence of a woman. He likes to prick the inflated
egos of politicians and other officials by engaging them in
conversations full of double entendres that subtly express his
disdain. With his easy charm, Bradford is a skilled diplomat.
Special Skills/Powers:
Bradford can woo any woman to the point where she can
refuse him nothing. He also has extensive knowledge of the
geology and the geography of many of the farflung worlds near
the Periphery border.
Name: Selvin Kelswa III
Title/Rank: Duke of Tamar
Position: Leader of the Tamar Pact
Birthplace: Red Hook, Tamar
Age: 41
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Duke Kelswa has many typical Tamarian features: ruddy
complexion, strong and squat body, and jet black hair. When he
is emotionally upset, a nervous tic makes his left eyelid twitch.
Brief Personal History:
As leader of the Tamar Pact, Duke Kelswa rules a realm that
the Draconis Combine now occupies by a half. As a young and
brash teenager, his idealism taught him first-hand what it means
to be occupied by Kurita forces. With the romantic intention of
organizing a guerrilla resistance group on the planet Harvest,
he and a group of friends secretly slipped across the border and
arrived in a JumpShip above that agricultural world. When a
DropShip accident killed his friends and marooned Selvin on
the planet, he had to live by his wits for a year until a Steiner
rescue force located him. As a fugitive on Harvest, he observed
the newly created slums, the blackened fields, the razed forests,
and was shocked by how dismal and hopeless life seemed
under the yoke of Kurita oppression. It also made him realize the
naiveté of expecting an enslaved people to rise up against an
enemy when they had to fight just to stay alive. Liberation would
have to come from outside the Commonwealth and he intended
to lead it.
Though the Duke never attended a military academy, he is
a capable leader when directing a defensive action. Several
times during his reign, he has personally led ‘Mech units that
repelled attacks by Kurita. This has led to his mistaken belief that
he is a natural strategist. In recent months, Kelswa has requested
that he be given an entire ‘Mech regiment to command, and
Katrina Steiner will find it hard to refuse this powerful, influential
man.
Personality:
Motivation/Desire/Goals:
The goal of winning back all the Tamar worlds under the
boot of the Draconis Combine has been the focus of the Duke’s
life. Some even say it is an obsession that grows daily, interfering
with the proper administration of the free worlds under his rule.
Duke Selvin Kelswa has no patience for people who do not
share his dream and has purged his cabinet several times to
“weed out the weaklings”, as he put it.
Manner:
The Duke is an expressive speaker, whose public oratory is
full of appeals to God, the soul, honor, and destiny. Though his
charismatic style attracts supporters to his cause, just as many
others are unsympathetic because of his arrogance toward those
who do not share his dream.
Special Skills/Powers:
None.
Name: Edward Regis
Title/Rank: General-of-the-Armies, Duke of the Realm
Position: Commander Pro Tem of the LCAF
Birthplace: Malcheema, Arcturus
Age: 57
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
General Regis is a tall, thin man who appears considerably
younger than his 57 years. Only a few strands of grey hair and
the deep furrows on his forehead and around his eyes betray
his actual age. In the style favored by Arcturan men, he sports a
full beard and mustache.
Brief Personal History:
General Regis began his military career at 16 when he
entered the LCAF and served in the 5th Arcturan Lancers infantry
regiment. Almost immediately, his superiors noted his ability to
face even the most desperate battle situation with a calm strength.
The officers also noticed that his fellow soldiers responded to
his stoic manner and took comfort from it, growing calmer and
surer of themselves. Though General Regis never sought to
become an officer, his regiment soon sent him to the Nagelring
Academy.
There, his instructors discovered that his outward calm hid
the quick intelligence of a born tactician and strategist. After
graduation, Regis proved his teachers right by continually
masterminding offensives that broke with the Lyran tradition of
“thundering herd” style of attacks. During his three years as
commander of the 23rd Arcturan Guards, he and his men saw
frequent heavy action, but Regis never once lost his calm exterior.
Archon Alessandro soon took note of Edward Regis’
strategic successes, and assigned him to the Strategy and Tactics
Division. The Archon hoped Regis would help breathe new life
into the LCAF high command.
Instead, General Regis became the original architect of the
‘Concentrated Weakness’ strategy. After its disastrous results,
the new Archon, Katrina Steiner, demoted him to the lower levels
of the Quartermaster Corps, a decision the General took with his
usual stoic calm. A year later, Katrina Steiner further reexamined
the circumstance, and discovered that Alessandro had
substantially altered General Regis’ original plan. She
immediately promoted Regis back to the S&T Division where he
soon proved his worth by designing a comprehensive and
ultimately successful strategy for the Kurita front.
In 3023, Edward Regis was promoted to General-of-theArmies and given the title Commander Pro Tem. Some of her
advisers thought Katrina was premature in so rewarding an
officer who had only recently been in disfavor. Katrina Steiner
responded that General Regis had proved himself the
commander most able to stand in her place if circumstances
should ever prevent her being able to make major military
decisions. She also considers the General the only military man
who would fulfill his duty as commander of the LCAF in her
absence without being swayed by political considerations or
bribery.
Personality:
Motivation/Desires/Goals:
Edward Regis’ goals are simple and uncomplicated. He
loves the Commonwealth, and his desire to protect it has been
strengthened by his visits to many of its planets. The iron rule of
the Draconis Combine and the complex politics of the Free
Worlds League dismay this fair, straightforward man. He does
heartily support alliance with the Federated Suns and looks
forward to devising strategies combining the armies of both
realms. He has met his House Davion counterpart and is
optimistic for the future.
General Edward Regis also looks forward to the day he will
retire from the military and be able to return home. Although he
is honored by Katrina’s trust and esteem, the chaotic events of
his last few years have taken their toll.
Manner:
General Regis is unusually quiet. A shy man by nature, it is
only the fact of military rank that has allowed him to express
authority. Some in the Estates General or the Royal Court believe
that Regis is either eccentric or stupid because of his quiet reserve.
To further confuse people, Regis loves to play elaborate practical
jokes on friends who never seem to realize that this mute monolith
of a man is the one responsible. The only area where his shyness
has been a permanent stumbling block is with women, with
whom he has few intimate relationships.
Special Skills/Powers:
Military history.
Name: Margaret Aten
Title/Rank: Duchess of Skye
Birthplace: Kisby Slums, Skye
Age: 34
Sex: Female
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Margaret Aten is a black woman who is not particularly
beautiful, but whose inner strength and toughness are
compelling.
Brief Personal History:
Duchess Aten is the adopted daughter of Duke Grethar
Lestrade. Margaret was orphaned at age seven when her mother,
Zarah Aten, was killed in an automobile accident. The child spent
her next three years on the dark streets of Skye’s southern cities,
trying to survive by her wits alone. In her tenth year, she took ill.
Margaret Aten was taken to a charity hospital, where the
doctors diagnosed a congenital heart defect. Lacking anyone to
pay her heavy medical expenses, it looked as though the child
would soon die. The Duke and Duchess Lestrade were visiting
the hospital at this time, and learned of her case. The Lestrades
immediately took over her hospital expenses, more for the
publicity than out of any real interest in the child. As Margaret
Aten recuperated over the next two years, a legitimate affection
developed between the street urchin and the Duke and Duchess.
They adopted the girl on her 13th birthday, but allowed her to
retain her surname in memory of her mother.
Three years ago, the Duke and Duchess died in a car
accident. Since that time, Duke Aldo Lestrade of Summer has
made three attempts to deny Margaret her rights as legal
daughter and heir to the Dukedom of Skye. Her ascension to the
title in such a status-conscious society has split the upper classes
into those few who admire the woman and the rest who cannot
forget her lower-class origins.
Recent efforts to trace Margaret Aten’s family tree have
raised a point in her favor. It appears that she is a distant relation
to Ilysa Aten, the famed Duchess of Tamar and Skye and one of
the Triumvirate that ruled the Commonwealth during the 29th
century. Some of the Skye nobility may find this enough reason
to accept her, but most of the nobles and industrialists are not
expected to change their disapproving attitude.
To make matters worse, Duchess Aten’s politics are also
controversial. She has been attempting to loosen the rigid nature
of Skye society, which tends to trap an individual into one social
class for his whole life. Though she is gaining support from the
lower classes, most of the wealthy classes vigorously oppose
her initiatives.
Duchess Aten has met Archon Katrina Steiner several times
and greatly admires her. The Duchess believes that the Archon
is a good friend to her and the lower classes she champions.
This friendship with the Steiner family and the Duchess’s liberal
policies infuriate Duke Lestrade and his separatist movement.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
The hardships and dangers of Margaret Aten’s life as a
street urchin still haunt her, which is why she has attempted so
many reforms. In addition to political action, she also sponsors
the construction of hospitals and clinics for the poorer classes,
financing them from her own coffers.
Margaret Aten has few friends on Skye and so she treasurers
her visits to Tharkad, which free her temporarily from general
disapproval that surround her at home in her palace, the Honor
of Skye. She also relishes the chance to have long talks with
Katrina Steiner, who is Margaret’s own model for herself.
Manner:
The Duchess of Skye tends to be very conscious of her
tough, lower-class accent and so tries to avoid making speeches.
If roused, however, she could probably stop a ‘Mech in its tracks
with a voice that might cut through steel. When her anger is
spiced with a choice street epithet or two, she can intimidate
even the haughtiest.
Special Skills/Powers:
Margaret Aten is streetwise in her perceptiveness of other
people’s characters.
Name: Simon Johnson
Title/Rank: Landgrave von Tessera Valley, Tharkad
Position: Chancellor of the Lyran Intelligence Corps
Birthplace: Tesseraburg, Tharkad
Age: 59
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Simon Johnson is a man who can alter his appearance to
suit almost any situation. One moment he may be the handsome
government official smiling graciously as he waltzes in a state
ballroom, and the next he can become a grand inquisitor whose
blue eyes are full of menace as he interrogates a reluctant
prisoner. Johnson’s eerie ability to transform himself from one
role to the next has earned him the nickname of “the Chameleon”,
which secretly pleases him.
Brief Personal History:
Simon Johnson was recruited by the Lyran Intelligence
Corps after he failed the physical exam for entrance to
Commonwealth military academy. Young Johnson had seen the
academy as a way to avenge the death of his parents, members
of a MASH unit, who had recently been killed in a raid by House
Kurita.
Simon Johnson became a skilled Bondian in the LIC and
performed several deep-cover operations into the Combine. The
most famous of these was the discovery and assassination of
Mistra Novosik, a Kurita mole. Having infiltrated the LIC, Novosik
was transmitting crucial information on their operations back to
House Kurita, which used the intelligence to find and kill all
Commonwealth operatives working covertly in the Combine.
Novosik fled back into the Combine when he realized Johnson
had blown his cover and was now in pursuit. Johnson, a
persistent man, spent two years in the Combine slowly working
his way toward Novosik. One day, while posing as a doctor,
Johnson injected the spy with poison.
Simon Johnson was transferred to the Norns, the LIC
division responsible for speculating on the actions of enemy
intelligence agents in that hidden war of espionage that has
never known a peace treaty. In 3001, after ten years with the
Norns, Archon Alessandro shrewdly appointed Johnson to run
the LIC.
Personality:
Motivation/Desires/Goals:
Simon Johnson tends to be a pragmatist who is willing to
suspend questions of morals or ethics if they hinder the goals of
espionage. Beneath this professional exterior, there still lives
the young man craving revenge, however. This hidden motive
has recently created a strain in his relations with the Archon.
Just as he was about to implement a major covert operation in
the Combine that could have crippled the administration of a
whole region, Katrina abruptly nixed the idea. Though she
claimed to have an excellent reason for doing so, the Archon
never explained it to Johnson, who now feels frustrated and
angry.
Simon Johnson is a bit wary of the alliance with the
Federated Suns. He believes that if House Steiner became
gullible enough to rely on intelligence that Davion agents supply,
it would leave the Commonwealth wide open for a double-cross.
Manner:
Simon Johnson is a man whose appearance, attitude, and
action inspire others to trust him. He is at home in even the most
bizarre situations, and often goes out of his way to put his
subordinates or companions equally at ease-and willing to talk.
Special Skills/Powers:
Johnson is an expert in all the skills needed to live by one’s
wits in an enemy land. He is also an expert marksman.
Name: Tyrell Gibson
Title/Rank: First Leutnant (Retired)
Position: Chancellor of the Peoples,
Representative of Black Earth
Birthplace: New South Side, Black Earth
Age: 42
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Tyrell Gibson was a tank commander attached to the 17th
Skye Rangers. During a Kurita ambush, all but he were killed in
an explosion. As a result of his wounds, Gibson’s once
handsome American Black features are scarred on the left side.
His left arm and leg were destroyed and he now wears
replacements.
Brief Personal History:
As a young man, Tyrell Gibson showed little inclination for
politics. His family were farmers and the nearest city was a
hundred kilometers away. When a radical left wing party took
control of the planetary government, its leaders outlawed the
private ownership of land. The Gibsons lost their family farm and
the family was jailed when they attempted to fight back.
After Tyrell Gibson returned from the military, he joined the
opposition party, and then managed to mastermind and lead
the violent overthrow of the government in 2998. Afterward, Tyrell
Gibson turned down the presidency of Black Earth to become
the planet’s Representative in the Estates General.
The Steering Committee soon took notice of this scarred
veteran and began to assign him to increasingly important
positions in committees and on councils. Gibson has
distinguished himself by a grim determination to listen to all
sides of an issue and an equal stubbornness to see the issue
resolved for the best of all concerned.
When the old Chancellor of the Peoples stepped down in
3017, the Steering Committee looked to Tyrell Gibson to take
the position. They felt that he, of all the Representatives, would
best represent the interests of the Estates General and bring to
the Commonwealth Council a new force and power for the
common people.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Tyrell Gibson holds several grudges. One is against the
Duke of Black Earth because he did not stop the seizure of
private lands that led to the near impoverishment of his family.
Second, he holds a grudge against the Lyran military for sending
his tank unit into a Kurita trap that led to his current mangled
physical condition. Third, he blames himself for not foreseeing
these events. He feels that his shortsightedness cost him the
comfort of his parents, his former appearance, and the life of his
beloved, who had been a member of his tank crew.
Manner:
Tyrell Gibson is a brusque man who cannot abide ‘court
courtesies’ and so avoids any social gatherings. Nor will he
accept any sympathy from others. He is, in short, a loner. His
colleagues treat him with respect and admiration for his
determination to see justice done, despite the fog of politics that
impedes the activities of both the Estates General and
Commonwealth Council. Katrina Steiner has tried to befriend
him, but with mixed results.
Special Skills/Powers:
None.
Name: Tadd Winslow
Position: Speaker of the Assembly,
Representative of Hot Springs
Birthplace: Mission City, Hot Springs
Age: 59
Sex: Male
Distinguishing physical Characteristics:
Though comfortably overweight, grey, and balding, Tadd
Winslow is always impeccably groomed. The fleshiness of his
face does not conceal the quick intelligence of his eyes.
Brief Personal History:
Tadd Winslow is the current leader of the Estates General.
His shrewd political abilities have allowed him to rise from being
a simple county councilman on his homeworld, to leadership of
the planetary government, to the highest non-titled political
position in the Commonwealth. Tadd Winslow recently married
Regina Tolloy, Duchess of Hot Springs. The marriage remains
secret for the time being because Winslow’s union with such a
high-ranking member of the nobility will not sit well with many of
the Representatives.
To prevent the possibility that he might be ousted from the
Estates General, Tadd Winslow is pushing forward his favorite
project: a constitutional convention that would force House
Steiner to officially recognize the power of the Estates General.
Such a major concession from the Archon would cement Tadd
Winslow’s position as Speaker of the Assembly. Thus far, he has
been unable to get Katrina Steiner to agree to the convention.
With rumors of his marriage circulating, he is beginning to feel
desperate in the face of a developing movement to remove him
from the Estates General.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Tadd Winslow is not as anti-Steiner as some of his
colleagues. He tends to see the ruling family and the whole
noble class as necessary evils for a realm too vast to allow for
truly democratic representation of the common people. His efforts
in favor of a constitutional convention are aimed at establishing
the Estates General as a permanent fixture of the Commonwealth
government. This would banish the fear that the Archon could
simply disband the body if its Representatives disagreed too
strongly with her policies.
Though he is honest when not in political danger, Winslow
is not above sidestepping morality to meet a threat. In order to
achieve his goal of a constitution, he has already attempted to
corrupt key figures, such as the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court and the nobles in the Commonwealth Council. Though
his efforts have met with mixed results, the pressure he faces
will probably push him to take further such actions.
Manner:
Winslow has a confident, imposing presence. The belief in
his cause makes him feel as noble as any titled lord.
Special Skills/Powers:
Tadd Winslow is an expert politician, with all the social skills
that implies. He is especially clever at hiding his own views
while drawing out other people’s opinions.
Name: Nondi Steiner
Title/Rank: Duchess of Gallery, General in the LCAF
Position: Margrave of Tamar Theater
Birthplace: New Stockholm, Gallery
Age: 44
Sex: Female
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Nondi Steiner is not as tall as most Steiner women, and has
black hair instead of the usual blond. Nondi otherwise shares
most of the line’s facial features, including the same cool steelgray Steiner eyes.
Brief Personal History:
Nondi Steiner grew up knowing her strengths and
limitations. When her sister Katrina seized power, she was
jealous enough at first that Alessandro almost convinced her to
join his attempt to retake the Archonship. After visiting Katrina,
Nondi realized that she loved her sister too much to risk seeing
her hurt and also that she wanted no part of the burden of running
the Commonwealth.
As Margrave of Tamar, her duties are already complex
enough. Not only is she responsible for the protection of over 30
vital worlds, she is also charged with seeing that the policies of
the Commonwealth government are carried out. Furthermore,
Katrina expects Nondi to keep her finger on the pulse of the
political atmosphere of her worlds and to report back on anything
worrisome.
Nondi Steiner is married to Jack Milby, a businessman from
Gallery. The couple has three children, two boys and a girl. The
eldest son, Iva, has just risen to command a ‘Mech company in
the 1st Royal Guards. Her son Richard has joined ComStar, and
daughter Lisa is in the Quartermaster Corps of the military.
Of late, Nondi Steiner has been feeling that she should
retire. So far, Katrina has been able to dissuade her, but Nondi
longs for the day she can wake up without having to wonder
how many people might die because of decisions she has to
make.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Nondi Steiner is a strong believer in the continuation of the
Steiner family as the rightful leader of the Commonwealth. She
has nothing to do with the politics of the Estates General and
despises any noble who has not sweated out the heat of battle
in service to the Commonwealth.
She despises the cruelty inherent in the Draconis Combine
system. On several occasions, she has ordered dangerous raids
deep into the Combine to assassinate particularly brutal Kurita
administrators.
Manner:
Like her sister, Nondi’s manner is generally cool and
reserved. Unlike her sister, she shows more of her real emotions
on the battlefield. For example, she has slapped or kicked officers
who have blundered too grievously. Though this caused trouble
for her later, she has no regrets.
Special Skills/Powers:
Nondi is another Steiner with a passion for hunting with
ancient weapons. Her favorite is to hunt Night Boars on Gallery
with the Tharkan spear.
Name: Caesar Steiner
Title/Rank: Colonel
Position: Commander of 2nd Donegal Guards
Birthplace: Telesian, Furillo
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Though Caesar Steiner shows the characteristic Steiner
fair-headedness and steely gray eyes, he is uncharacteristically
pudgy.
Brief Personal History:
Caesar is the son of Iris Steiner, the Margrave of Cavanaugh
Theater. He is a sensualist who spends as much time as possible
satisfying his physical desires, be it food, drink, fighting, or women.
Though his carousing is legendary, his prowess against Kurita
forces on the battlefield has persuaded the Archon to pardon
his off-duty rowdiness on more than one occasion.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Caesar’s mother spoiled him as a child. As an adult, his
privileged position as a member of the Steiner family has allowed
him to continue to indulge every whim and to pursue every
foolish desire. When that leads to trouble, he simply uses his
name and rank to get out of a spot.
Manner:
Except when pursuing one of his physical pleasures, Caesar
Steiner is capable of an excellent imitation of the Steiner family’s
cool, detached attitude. He is merely hiding the fact that he is
utterly bored, however. It is only in connection with his neargluttonous desires that there comes a gleam of excitement in
his eyes.
Special Skills/Powers:
Caesar Steiner has such a vast knowledge of ancient and
modern alcoholic beverages that he can often guess the vintage
of any wine with amazing accuracy.
Name: Alessandro Steiner
Title/Rank: Landgrave of Kelestra Valley,
General-of-the-Armies (Retired)
Birthplace: Kelestra City, Furillo
Age: 58
Sex: Male
Distinguishing Physical Characteristics:
Alessandro’s physical appearance is marked by the 27
years he spent as Archon. His hair is grey, his face is lined with
the strain of heavy responsibility, and he seems somehow to
have physically shrunk in height since being deposed.
Brief Personal History:
The fact that Alessandro served the Commonwealth for
many years as Archon, only to have the commoners in the Estates
General dismiss him like an employee weighs heavily upon his
mind. After his forced abdication, he retreated to his ancestral
home on Furillo, where he has since lived quietly, hunting, fishing,
and entertaining the few friends that come to visit.
Iris Steiner, Duchess of Furillo, is one of the most frequent
visitors. Her original motivation was to be sure that Alessandro
was not trying to marshal support for a coup against Katrina, but
despite this, a warm friendship has now sprung up between the
two.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Though he calls himself “a harmless old man”, no one
believes it. Duchess Iris, in particular, can see the wily politician
beneath his feeble, frail act. Three times, Duke Frederick Steiner
has visited Alessandro in hopes the two could unite to oust
Katrina. They cannot come to terms, however, because both
want the Archonship as prize if their coup succeeds. Alessandro’s
hopes of coming back from enforced retirement have grown
stronger of late. If discontent within the Commonwealth against
the recent alliance with the Federated Suns becomes
widespread, he plans to use it to retake the throne, and deal
with his uppity niece once and for all.
Manner:
Alessandro plays the aged veteran, with protestations about
his failing health and the lack of visitors to his wilderness
mansion. When angered, however, he reverts to playing monarch
of a vast realm, speaking in a voice filled with authority. Though
the former Archon is a gracious host, he usually ends up grilling
his visitors for details of the political situation beyond his
‘retirement home’.
Special Skills/Powers:
The former Archon is a wily negotiator and expert at
disguising his true motives and emotions in order to obtain what
he desires.
Name: Jack Sphire
Title/Rank: General
Position: Margrave of Ryde Theater
Birthplace: Armored Outpost Five, Ryde
Age: 49
Sex: Male
Brief Personal History:
General Sphire was born in one of the many fortresses built
on Ryde to discourage raids by House Kurita. Sphire grew up in
and around the military, and always knew he wanted to make it
his career. When still an adolescent, he was chosen for officer
training because of his intelligence and quick reactions.
General Sphire graduated from the Sanglamore Academy
with honors. He quickly rose in the ranks as a result of actions
such as managing to secretly infiltrate an entire battalion through
Marik lines on New Kyoto. His appointment as Margrave of Ryde
Theater ten years ago came about when his work at the Strategy
and Tactics Division proved him well able to handle large-scale
strategies.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goais:
General Sphire despises politics so much that he will go
out of his way to avoid meeting a politician. Katrina Steiner
considered this an excellent reason to give him the Margraveship.
She felt confident that he would reject overtures by antiCommonwealth groups in that hot-bed of separatist sentiment.
Sphire’s unwillingness to play the political game has created
considerable friction between him and the planetary nobles and
leaders in the Ryde Theater.
The General does have a passion for ancient video
entertainment, particularly old movies.
Manner:
Sphire is a no-nonsense fellow. He always goes straight to
the point in any conversation, and will simply ignore anyone
else who does not.
Special Skills/Powers:
The General is an expert in more than one of the martial
arts. He also has considerable knowledge of the video
entertainment industries.
Name: Stephen Neil
Title/Rank: General
Position: Margrave of Ford Theater
Birthplace: Sterla Abbey, Golandrinas
Age: 51
Sex: Male
Brief Personal History:
Stephen Neil was born in a small pastoral town just outside
an abbey on Golandrinas. Located deep within the
Commonwealth, this world had never seen war and so the idea
of joining the military never occurred to the extremely religious
Stephen Neil. He intended to become either a priest or a
merchant like his mother.
While visiting friends on Bone-Norman, a lance of bandits
from the Periphery attacked and destroyed the small village
where Stephen was staying. The death and destruction he
witnessed remained in his memory as a shock for several years.
Finally, after deep reflection, Stephen Neil entered the LCAF.
Though much older than most of his comrades (having avoided
compulsory service as an only child), he was sent to an academy
for officer training.
Neil is a capable combat officer, and his actions with the 5th
Lyran Regulars on Giausar more than proved his worth. He is
especially adept at orchestrating large mixed-arms units. His
real forte, however, is organization, a skill developed from his
extensive business training as a younger man.
This ability to organize is one of the reasons Katrina Steiner
chose him to take over the Ford Theater. Several years of heavy
action had left the administrator of the theater’s Margrave
incapable of carrying out his office. Since taking over, Stephen
Neil has reasserted the Margrave’s control over all combat units
within the theater.
Personality:
Motivations/Desires/Goals:
Despite his long career as a soldier, Stephen Neil remains
a devout man who often reflects on whether he has made the
right decisions with his life. Though he strongly believes that
defending the Commonwealth is right, the idea of having to kill
for it deeply troubles him. He strongly supports the alliance with
the Federated Suns as long as it means that, together, the two
realms many be able to exert political pressure on the other
realms. He does not know how he would react if the alliance led
to escalation of the war.
Manner:
Stephen Neil is a quiet and unassuming man, seemingly
better suited to a desk and computer terminal than to piloting his
Marauder. Becoming a soldier seems to have made him more,
rather than less, compassionate toward both friends and
enemies.
Special Skills/Powers:
As a serious student of all religions, Stephen Neil has
developed vast knowledge of the subject and a large library of
theology tapes and old books.
A BRIEF ATLAS
Second in size and number of planets
among the five Successor States, The
Lyran Commonwealth occupies a triangle
of space roughly 140 parsecs by 140
parsecs, and runs 240 parsecs along its
long border with the Periphery. Within that
mind-boggling space are more than 300
planets whose populations are large
enough for the Commonwealth
government to officially recognize. For every
inhabited planet, at least five to ten others
are either uninhabited, inhospitable, or with
populations too small or too private to be
recognized.
This Brief Atlas provides a historical,
political, and economic sketch for 30 worlds
in the Lyran Commonwealth. These worlds
were chosen either because of their
importance or because they illustrate a
typical feature or particular distinction. Lack
of time and space prevent more detailed
studies, but these 30 entries will provide at
least a glimpse into the vast and fascinating
collection of Steiner worlds.
[NOTE: If there is a working recharge
apparatus at one or both of a system’s jump
points, then the entry will list Zenith and/or
Nadir to indicate at which jump station it is
located. Percentage and Level of Native
Life is a rough estimate of how much of the
world’s planet and animal life is indigenous,
as well as stating the highest level of
development reached by its fauna.]
THE PROTECTORATE
OF DONEGAL
World Name: Tharkad
Star Type: G6V
Position in System: 5
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Katrina Steiner,
Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth
and Duchess of Tharkad
Political Leader: Katrina Steiner
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Most Exalted
Ambassador, Ulthar Everston,
Precentor of Tharkad Station
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
45%, Mammal
Tharkad was discovered in 2310 by
an explorer group from nearby Donegal.
Though the rugged mountains and windy,
arctic climate extending over most of its
surface made it seem a dreary place for
humans, the world also contained major
radioactive and gem deposits. When Seth
Marsden visited Tharkad in 2311, he found
the cold, peaceful solitude to be
breathtaking. So taken was he with the long
nights and their spectacular aurora borealis
that Marsden managed eventually to
control and claim it as his own. He then
began a program of massive importation
of cold weather plants and animals from
Terra and other worlds to spread across
his new home.
He had soon created a world with large
pine forests populated with deer, caribou,
wolves, Skye boars, and Tharkan gazelle.
In many ways, Tharkad is like the arctic
wildernesses of Terra, except that its arctic
regions extend all the way down to the 30th
latitude of the planet. There are five major
continents and three major island chains
on Tharkad. Tharkad City, the capital, is
located on Bremen, the largest continent.
When Tharkad became the capital of
the Lyran Commonwealth in 2407, space
was cleared in the middle of a large forest
ten kilometers to the north of Olympia for
construction of the Capital city. The large
and somberly elegant Royal Palace,
Government House, and Royal Court form
the three cusps of the Triad, a triangular
complex of buildings all devoted to the
administration of the Commonwealth.
Today, the Triad includes over 300 buildings
of all types and styles, whose purposes
range from hospitals and houses of worship
to apartments for nobles and
Representatives from distant worlds and a
botanical garden. It is a common saying
that there is a building for every populated
world in the Commonwealth somewhere
in the Triad.
Even the fusion reactor operating deep
beneath this modern city to generate power
and heat cannot completely hold back the
Tharkan cold. At the first sign of winter
snowfall, the people, both rich and poor,
begin unpacking clothing designed for the
coming Tharkan blizzards and bonechilling cold. Attending the Royal Court
during a Tharkan winter is an unusual
experience for those used to visiting courts
in warmer climes. The Commonwealth
nobility likes to dress in furs during the
winter months, more out of necessity than
vanity. Women wear long, fur-trimmed
gowns, while the men wear fur hats and fur
coats crisscrossed with chains of jewelry
and precious metals. As people speak in
the large and high-ceilinged Throne Room,
their breaths sometimes rise in wisps of
condensation to create a thin layer of shiny
ice on the armor of the two Griffin
BattleMechs guarding the Archon.
Set on the crest of nearby Mount
Wotan is Asgard, the military headquarters
of the Steiner armed forces. It is a fortress
with one major tower flanked by four
smaller ones. All five towers are heavily
armed; below them are hangars for a
regiment of ‘Mechs, two of infantry and
tanks, and a Wing of AeroSpace Fighters.
There are no roads leading to the
Triad, and so all traffic must enter by VTOL
craft or by one of the three separate subway
systems that link the Triad with Olympia to
the south, Asgard to the west, and the rest
of Tharkad City five miles to the north.
During the Good Years, the planet
underwent a boom in mining and steel
manufacture. The Star League also
established a military base with major
storage facilities on the tropical Tatyana
Islands during this era. With the fall of Star
League, Tharkad’s industries were plunged
for a time into deep economic depression.
With the need to produce weapons and
other military equipment for the Succession
Wars, Tharkad’s industries revived.
World Name: Donegal
Star Type: F0V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 10 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Toribio Malborg,
Duke of Donegal
Political Leader: Prime Minister
Gayle Foley
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
John Lamathits
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
45%, Reptile
The planet Donegal was Seth
Marsden’s destination after he resigned
from tan McQuiston’s trading company.
Having seen early reports of the world’s
abundant resources and strategic location,
he knew that Donegal would one day
become an important and profitable world.
By taking ownership of it, Marsden ensured
the success of his own trading company
and spurred the eventual creation of the
entire Protectorate of Donegal.
The planet is a mostly temperate world
filled with unusual vegetation and wildlife,
some of which are exported to other worlds
for their food value. Beneath the surface of
Donegal are rich deposits of industrial
diamonds, rare earths, and metals, which
are heavily exploited.
Donegal is known as the ‘Trader’s
World’, and has spawned dozens of
importing and exporting companies. Media
City, Wellington, Sidley, Palar, and
Novorossisk are the main trading centers,
spread out over three continents. Donegal
also has two working space settlements in
orbit around lagrange points. They are a
shabby pair, however, nicknamed ‘the Tin
Cans’ and tending to attract traders of a
seedier sort.
The fact that Donegal hosts the most
active Commonwealth Stock Exchange is
a sign of its political and economic
importance. Donegal is also the home of
the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth.
World Name: Alarion
Star Type: G0V
Position in System: 5
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Timothy Serfass II, Duke of
Alarion
Political Leader: President Yvonne
Parker
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor Berle
Spadoni
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
15%, Fish
Alarion was settled some 30 years after
formation of the Lyran Commonwealth.
What attracted the first settlers to the world
was the seemingly limitless native plant
and aquatic life ideally suited to cultivation
and exploration. Conditions were so
favorable that the original settlers did not
even bother to bring along extra food
supplies; they thought that the native
wildlife would feed them. Unfortunately,
what the settlers did bring were diseases
that decimated many of the native lifeforms
before cures and treatments could be
found. Then, like a counterattack, a disease
native to the planet attacked the settlers
who had become weak from malnutrition.
When the crisis finally ended, most of the
native lifeforms were extinct and over half
the settlers were dead. This disaster led
the Commonwealth government to issue
strict quarantine and settlement procedures
that are still in effect.
Today, Alarion is a center of heavy
industry. It also possesses the only orbiting
shipyards in the Commonwealth, the Port
Sydney Naval Shipyards, which are
capable of refitting and repairing
JumpShips. As most of the world’s natural
resources are being exploited, there are
very few unsettled areas among its two
continents and many islands. The capital
city is Craiova.
World Name: Coventry
Star Type: F4V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 10 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Harrison Bradford,
Duke of Coventry
Political Leader: Chairman Steven
Davidian
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor Nora
Baken
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
30%, Mammal
Coventry is a pleasant world of large
seas and mild seasons. Because of the
favorable climate, the earlier settlers had
soon turned Coventry into a major
agricultural center for the Lyran worlds near
the Periphery. Though it is an agricultural
center to this day, the eventual discovery
of major deposits of rare metals has also
made the planet an industrial center.
Coventry Metal Works, the secondlargest BattleMech company in the
Commonwealth, is located here. The
discovery of another major deposit of rare
metals a decade ago set off a new surge of
growth in Coventry’s economy. The number
of native corporations in and around the
cities on the planet’s four continents has
tripled in the last ten years. At the moment,
these firms have not branched out into the
larger Commonwealth market, but some,
like McKenzy Molecular Smelters and
Greenbill Aerospace, seem on the verge
of doing so.
World Name: Poulsbo
Star Type: F4V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 11 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Deborah Astra IV,
Duchess of Poulsbo
Political Leader: Chairman Peter Ayers
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor Ernst
deCreesy
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
25%, Reptile
Poulsbo was discovered in the late
24th century by the Commonwealth Scout
Corps. What they encountered was a small
world with a large moon that kept the
planet’s great seas continually churning.
Because Poulsbo was resource-poor, no
effort was made to colonize the planet for
100 years. During the Age of War, military
necessities forced the LCAF to establish
Bangor, a large staging area for attacks on
the Free Worlds League. When the wars
stopped and the Good Years came, the
effort to sustain the base was judged too
costly and it was closed in 2632.
By that time, there was a large civilian
population on Poulsbo. When Bangor
closed, the remaining population turned to
cultivating the planet’s surface and to
fishing the violent seas. The years passed
Poulsbo by and the planet became more
and more isolated from the rest of the
Commonwealth.
When the Star League fell and the
Succession Wars began, Poulsbo again
found itself vital to the Commonwealth’s
interests. Bangor was reopened and
expanded to accommodate ‘Mech
regiments. The people of Poulsbo have not
taken kindly to this renewed interest in their
home. Having become independent by
necessity, they are still bitter at having been
previously abandoned by the government
on Tharkad. Though a supporter and
admirer of the Archon, the Duchess of
Poulsbo nonetheless shares her people’s
unhappiness with how politics and war
have scarred her world.
World Name: Chahar
Star Type: G0IV
Position in System: 2
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Brij Lal Kochhar,
Duke of Chahar
Political Leader: Leader Kathie Kobelan
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Alexander Fisken
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
None
Chahar, when first discovered in 24th
century, was a lifeless world, despite the
planet’s large ocean and agreeable
climate. When the initial survey discovered
major deposits of chemicals and metals,
colonization of this barren world became
more viable. By the beginning of the next
century, there existed a significant
population, most of whom were employed
by Trans-India Mining Industries.
Chahar’s inability to feed itself placed
a major burden on neighboring planets
until the Steiner government financed a
major effort to introduce plant and animal
life to the planet. The project was a complete
success, with an amazing percentage of
introduced species thriving in their new
environment.
Today, Chahar can feed its own
population and even exports some grain
to other worlds. The planet has a vigorous
economy that is actively courting major
Commonwealth industries to open
factories here. Its industries won a major
economic battle with the neighboring world
of Blue Hole, when Trellshire Heavy
Industries built a weapons plant near
Chahar’s capital city, Benares. The planet
is also home to Dobless Information
Services.
World Name: Timbuktu
Star Type: K0V
Position in System: 2
Time to Jump Point: 4 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Russel Sherris,
Duke of Timbuktu
Political Leader: Prime Minister Dorthea
Dluchy
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Michael Milalo
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
40%, Plant
Timbuktu is one of the most distant
planets from Tharkad. It takes approximately
four weeks to reach this world orbiting its
weak red sun. As a result, the Timbuktu
population has a self-sufficient, pioneer air
about them. The planet has few industries
and barely produces enough food to feed
itself. Major deposits of rare minerals do
exist, but are confined to the hellish Hades
continent, a place whose constant volcanic
activity makes mining extremely
dangerous. The planet has been attacked
many times over its history, which is why
the 11th Arcturan Guards are posted here.
Two years ago, a neo-smallpox virus
swept over the Timbuktu, killing many and
weakening the rest. Aid from the
government arrived and checked the
epidemic, but not before it had affected over
50 percent of the population. As a result,
the entire planet is recuperating, which
does not allow for much else to be
accomplished. The Guards were affected
as well. Many of its personnel have since
transferred out and new soldiers have
come in to keep the regiment up to strength.
World Name: Bountiful Harvest
Star Type: F2IV
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 11 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Steven Halsf III
Political Leader: Coordinator Edward
Brownawel
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Joseph Kikuchi
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
55%, Mammal
Bountiful Harvest is a planet slightly
larger than Terra. With large tracts of flat
land and fertile soil, bright beautiful oceans,
and an amazingly temperate climate, it is
no wonder that Bountiful Harvest has
become the largest agricultural planet in
the Commonwealth. An amazing 70
percent of the land area is involved with
food production, be it by crops or livestock.
The two major oceans also live up to the
planet’s name, with native and transplanted
schools of fish grown and harvested.
Bountiful was discovered just after the
formation of the Protectorate of Donegal.
Lying quite near the border with the Tamar
Pact, it soon became the source of
considerable tension between the two
realms. For a time, it even looked as though
they would war over which side would
control the planet. The issue was resolved
when three separate companies, one from
each realm in the Commonwealth, were
allowed to farm the lands and fish the seas.
Those three companies eventually merged
into Bountiful Delicacies, the planet’s
largest agribusiness.
World Name: Gallery
Star Type: M5V
Position in System: 1
Time to Jump Point: 3 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Nondi Steiner,
Duchess of Gallery
Political Leader: Leader Chivra Kennedy
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Roger Kennedy
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
None
Gallery has long been known as one
of the darkest and moodiest worlds in the
Commonwealth. The stormy climate, born
from three seas and a large moon, cloaks
the surface of the planet in an almost
perpetually violent night seldom
penetrated by light from a small sun. Why
the Steiner family chose to hold onto such
a dismal world when they once had control
over many more pleasant planets no one
knows.
Because the planet had no native
lifeforms, the colonists had to import species
adaptable to the dark conditions. Gallery
supports a fairly large mining industry that
searches beneath the surface for pockets
of diamonds and metals. Considering the
dark and gloomy atmosphere above
ground, it is not surprising that Gallery
natives make excellent miners: the
atmosphere in a mine shaft is not much
different from the conditions of their
homeworld.
Nondi Steiner, sister to the current
Archon and Duchess of Gallery, has her
mansion just outside the capital city of new
Stockholm. When she is away with her
regiment, her mother, Lisa Steiner takes
her place as ruler of Gallery.
World Name: Chukchi III
Star Type: G5V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 7 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Sigmund Rietz,
Duke of Chukchi
Political Leader: President Eddy Chuller
ComStar Facility Class: C
ComStar Representative: Precentor Paul
Sibert
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
40%, Reptile
Chukchi III has become an economic
and emotional hot spot in recent years. The
discovery of massive deposits of titanium
have made this quiet and beautiful planet
the center of several major mining projects.
Unfortunately, this sudden economic boom
has brought with it unsavory elements such
as organized crime. Recent reports from
Precentor Sibert state that Nemuiat
Entertainments, a front for the Malthus
family, has appeared on Chukchi.
It is uncertain whether this small
planet’s picturesque green valleys and
snow-capped mountains can withstand the
onslaught of progress. The efforts of the
Duke of Chukchi to halt the tide of mining
equipment, boom towns, and the millions
of foreign employees, have run up against
Chukchi’s President, who strongly supports
the development. Recent terrorist
bombings and assassinations have been
aimed at the major mining companies,
apparently in the name of the planet’s
decimated wildlife, and are an ominous
omen for Chukchi’s future.
THE FEDERATION OF SKYE
World Name: Skye
Star Type: G8V, M0V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Margaret Aten,
Duchess of Skye
Political Leader: President Anson
McConnaughey
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor Dane
Alknaur
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
30%, Mammal
Skye is the emotional heart of the
Federation. With its contrasting landscapes
and cool climate, the early English, Irish,
and Scotch settlers quickly came to feel at
home. The many succeeding generations
on Skye have developed a deep emotional
attachment to this world of green mountains
beneath twin suns.
Despite all the publicity given to the
planet’s unspoiled landscape, Skye is a
very industrialized planet. There are enough
smelters, refineries, and manufacturers to
make any greedy businessman’s heart
happy. To counter the effects of these
potential environmental disasters, the early
founders of the planet kept over 50 percent
of the planet wild and untamed. While this
saved the land, it stifled economic
prosperity and kept wealth in the hands of
certain nobles and businessmen. Who was
rich and who was poor has remained fairly
static for the hundreds of years since. This
has made the social hierarchy rigid and
stagnant, with few people able to move up
the social ladder and many more actually
descending.
The economic boom created by the
Commonwealth’s alliance with the
Federated Suns has created considerable
social unrest on Skye. Though many
welcome the opportunity for stimulating
new influences, and hope for eventual
social, economic, and land reforms, others
still consider the Federated Suns an
enemy. These hold rigidly to the old ways
of doing things, including defending the
wilderness to the death. Despite this clash,
every long-time citizen of Skye has the same
deep attachment to the planet and most born
there never contemplate leaving it.
World Name: Alexandria
Star Type: M4V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 7 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Edward James,
Duke of Alexandria
Political Leader: Prime Minister Harrison
Gunlager
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Melyvn Gaska
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
20%, Reptile
Alexandria is one of the most warravaged planets in the Federation. When
not the target of an all-out invasion,
Alexandria suffers almost constant raiding
by House Kurita. The result is that this once
idyllic world of pastoral beauties and rich
resources has become a virtual sea of mud
churned up by the weight of marching
‘Mechs.
There was a time during the Good
Years when Alexandria was a cultural
center whose art collections were famous
throughout the Inner Sphere. Hints of that
more graceful era still exist in the farflung
cities of Lam Pole or Cherbourg, which
have no military importance and so were
relatively untouched by war.
There have been efforts recently to
rebuild Alexandria’s shattered cities and
torn lands. So accustomed to war, the
planet’s people stoically wonder to what
good use they can put the remains of the
new buildings after the next battle reduces
them to rubble.
World Name: Summer
Star Type: M4V
Position in System: 1
Time to Jump Point: 3 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Aldo Lestrade,
Duke of Summer
Political Leader: Clan Leader Jeffrey
Hayne
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComSter Representative: Precentor
Dewayne Vetters
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
20%, Plant
Summer is the political center of its
province. The separatist movement
promoting the independence of the
Federation of Skye from the rest of the
Commonwealth congregates around Duke
Lestrade’s palace looming above Curitiba,
Summer’s largest city.
A darker twin of Skye, Summer’s weak
sun changes hills that would be considered
beautiful and stirring on Skye to dark and
ominous shapes covered with the purple
scrub-grass native to the planet. Dark hills
loom over valleys steeped in shadows. In
the summer months, the wind is often
tainted with the peculiar odors of its native
blooming plants.
The major industries on Summer are
refineries for the planet’s large deposits of
oil and radioactives as well as factories
manufacturing components for JumpShips.
World Name: Rahne
Star Type: G7V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 6 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Yoshiro Endo,
Duke of Rahne
Political Leader: Chairman Phuong
Thanh To
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Dorthy Stoltz
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
90%, Mammal
Rahne is a small world lacking
adequate water and growing seasons.
Because the planet’s surface is wracked
by major dust storms, the need to protect
exposed machinery has greatly hampered
above-ground exploitation of Rahne’s
gems and radioactive deposits. Geologists
report that Rahne originated from a planet
twice its size that collided with a huge
asteroid. As a result of the collision, the
original planet split into Rahne and its
moon, Caliban.
The gravitational effect of massive
Caliban upon the planet’s atmosphere and
its one sea give Rahne its severe weather
conditions. The planet has four seasons:
Storm, Calm, Cold, Melting. Of the four,
Melting is the most dangerous, as
temperatures rise above 100 degrees C.
Fortunately, each season lasts only 21 days.
How native life evolved on such a
world is a mystery. The Rahne Toad-Fox, a
squat beast with red fur and an evil
disposition, is an example of what it takes
to survive on this planet. During the Storm
and Calm seasons, the Toad-Fox is a
nocturnal hunter. Using its foot-long ears
and ten-inch claws that drip with poison, it
seeks out and kills prey, usually Slimy
Rock-Huggers. During the Cold, the ToadFox looks for a mate by drumming out an
invitation upon its chest. Once mated, the
Toad-Foxes bury themselves by literally
ripping through a mountainside, where they
give birth and live during the Melting.
For humans, only the Calm and Cold
seasons are hospitable enough to allow
anyone to venture outside the
subterranean cities.
World Name: Hesperus II
Star Type: F2IV
Position in System: 2
Time to Jump Point: 10 Days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Greydon Brewer,
Duke of Hesperus II
Political Leader: Representative Dena of
Hesperus II
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Hjalmer Curtis
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
30%, Reptile
Hesperus II has been characterized
as having about as much physical appeal
as an 80-year old lady of easy virtue.
Approaching the planet, the visitor
immediately notices the innumerable
mountain ranges and canyons
crisscrossing the four major continents like
wrinkles or the grids of some warped game
board.
And a game board it has been, for
Hesperus, with its huge BattleMech factory
in the Myoo Mountains, is the crux of the
Commonwealth’s military strength. It has
been attacked 14 times by enemy Houses,
but all attempts to destroy the factory have
so far failed. The terrain of Hesperus is
unforgiving and has proven to be as much
an obstacle to foreign attackers as have
the planet’s defenders.
Not much can grow on Hesperus II,
except in the Melrose Valleys or in the
terraced mountains just outside of Maria’s
Elegy, the largest city on Hesperus II. Due
to the planet’s lack of arable land, the
population has always been small,
consisting mainly of employees at the ‘Mech
factory.
World Name: Port Moseby
Star Type: F9V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 9 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Joan Welman,
Duchess of Port Moseby
Political Leader: Prime Minister Simon
Teltra
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor Carl
Stor
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
35%, Mammal
Port Moseby has become a rich
business center of sprawling cities, major
spaceports, and a steady traffic of
JumpShips in and out of the system. The
reason for the planet’s good fortune is that
it is almost completely surrounded by the
Draconis Combine. Of course, this
advantage could easily become the
planets downfall if House Kurita should so
decide, but for now, Lyran traders ply their
trade with eager customers from the
Combine in Port Moseby. It would be easier
to say what is not traded on Port Moseby
than what is. The needs and wants of the
Draconis Combine are legion, and the
Commonwealth merchants are more than
willing to fill the demand, with the usual
overcharge, of course.
The planet itself is rather plain.
Nondescript terrain, common weather, and
the average number of hidden natural
resources all tend to focus life back into
the cities, where the Lyran merchants have
their colorful bazaars.
World Name: Ryde
Star Type: F5V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 11 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Charles Traaen,
Duke of Ryde
Political Leader: President Franklin
Glesch
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Kathleen Massie
Percentage and Level of Native Life: 0%
Ryde was discovered a few years after
the Exodus from Terra had begun. The
survey crew’s report described a young
planet whose continents still creaked,
groaned, and erupted with earthquakes
and volcanoes. Ryde also had three seas,
but the steaming hot water tainted yellow
with sulfur and heavy metals made them
unusable.
Despite the planet’s hellish
appearance, colonists chose to live on
Ryde, creating the city of Heaven’s Gate
on one of the more peaceful continents.
Seven hundred years later, Ryde is still
violent with quakes and volcanoes. Thanks
to the persistence of those early settlers, it
is also capable of sustaining a large
population with food grown in the rich
volcanic soil. The world’s volatile condition
does benefit the population by giving them
easy access to geothermal heating during
Ryde’s harsh winters. The planet’s geology
has also resulted in the relatively easy and
profitable growth of a chemicals industry.
World Name: Mizar
Star Type: A2V
Position in System: 6
Time to Jump Point: 24 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Armas Mallos,
Duke of Mizar
Political Leader: Governor Johnny O’Hare
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Fletcher Odegaard
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
35%, Mammal
Basking beneath its huge sun, Mizar
is one of the most well-groomed worlds in
the Commonwealth. Its people have been
willing to allocate huge sums of money and
effort to prettify their homeworld, even at
the cost of further developing a promising
crystal and metals operation.
Some observers suspect that this
beauty fetish is a hangover from the Good
Years when Mizar was considered one of
the most fashionable resort worlds in the
League. Mizar still has a large tourist
industry based on the allure and beauty of
its many tropical isles. Others speculate that
the people of Mizar are obsessed with
proving their planet is better than the
nearby world of Summer. Why a world lit by
a brilliant sun and possessing a colorful,
harmonious landscape would want to
compete with one that is dark and gloomy
defies explanation.
Whatever the reason, the natives of
Mizar are fanatic about maintaining
physical appearance, their own and their
world’s. These tanned and relaxed people
are also obsessed with the symbols of
wealth such as ground vehicles, mansions,
mistresses, and/or gigolos. Visitors to Mizar
are generally unconcerned about what
motivates the inhabitants, as long as the
weather is clear and sunny and Fire
Lizards, a famed Mizar drink, flows freely.
The capital of Mizar is New Venice Beach.
World Name: New Kyoto
Star Type: G5
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 7 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Musashi Endo, Daimyo of
New Kyoto
Political Leader: Prime Minister Salah
Yashruti
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor To
Sun Yi
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
75%, Mammal
When New Kyoto was first discovered,
the virulence of the native lifeforms was
not immediately apparent. When colonists
attempted to import plants and animals, the
results were disastrous, because the native
fauna either consumed the newcomers or
local diseases killed off the competition in
other ways. After some very lean and
difficult years, the scientists on New Kyoto
managed to discover an opening in the
previously impenetrable armor of native
lifeforms. Though progress has been slow,
imported life has begun to gain a foothold
on the planet. There is a strict ban against
exporting native species of New Kyoto to
other worlds. Furthermore, no one should
be foolish enough to venture either alone
or unarmed into the many wild areas of the
planet. As fearsome as this sounds, New
Kyoto is relatively safe and free of the major
Kyotan carnivores like Armor Bears and
Ki-rians
Many major industries have been
constructed along the coasts of the planet’s
four continents, and several spaceports are
being built to help promote the growing
trade with the Free Worlds League.
World Name: Yed Prior
Star Type: F0III
Position in System: 5
Time to Jump Point: 11 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Travo Keskula,
Duke of Yed Prior
Political Leader: President Walther
Jensen
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
James DeGregoire
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
45%, Mammal
Yed Prior is a world in the throes of
rebellion. As part of a program to attract
more business to the planet, Duke Keskula
wishes to construct a major spaceport on
land owned by and considered sacred to a
Shinto monastery. For several years, the
Duke has made numerous offers of money,
other land holdings, political favors, and
anything else he could think of. The
Shintoists have turned a deaf ear, but the
Duke is equally stubborn in refusing to look
for an alternate construction site.
Walther Jensen, President of the Yed
Prior government, has stepped in on the
side of the Shinto priests and their large
forest of Yed conifers. This so enraged the
Duke that he ordered elements of the
planetary garrison to seize the disputed
land by force. President Jensen retaliated
by having the police force of the nearby
city of Kezma enter the forest and dig in.
The commander of the planetary garrison,
Leutnant-Colonel Greston Patterson,
wisely decided that the Duke’s orders were
an illegal use of Commonwealth weaponry.
He countermanded the marching orders
and confined the garrison to its bases.
At the time of this writing, the private
forces of Duke Keskula have surrounded
the forest and its defenders in an attempt
to starve them out. Riots in support of the
forest defenders have broken out in many
cities. An envoy from the Steiner
government has arrived to attempt
mediation. Curiously, a major portion of the
planetary garrison has just gone on
maneuvers quite near the Duke’s palace,
possibly to intimidate him.
THE TAMAR PACT
World Name: Tamar
Star Type: G6V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 6 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Selvin Kelswa III,
Duke of Tamar
Political Leader: Prime Minister Maxiltra
Rudasich
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Virginia Hoppe
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
45%, Plant
This planet has been the capital of the
Tamar Pact ever since it was discovered
and surveyed by the Tamar brothers in
2331. It is a large world whose heavy gravity
taxes the system of anyone not native to
the planet. Natives of Tamar tend to be
either stoutly built or tall and wiry. The effects
of the sun and lack of an intervening ozone
layer in Tamar’s atmosphere gives
residents the characteristic deep red
complexion known as the “Tamar blush”.
This planet was quite rich in natural
resources when first settled. Centuries of
mining emptied most of the easily reached
layers, leaving the remainder deeply
hidden and needing special technology
help to uncover. To prevent a depression,
Tamar diversified, developing a large trade
industry, with major spaceports and
facilities for import and export of raw
materials and goods.
Tamar has yet to repair or replace its
recharging stations crippled at the close of
the last century. Because of this, the Jump
Points are prone to be crowded. Most
merchants resent this because House
Kurita makes frequent raids against Tamar
and they will shoot at anything in their way.
World Name: Twycross
Star Type: F0IV
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 12 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Yvonne Killa,
Duchess of Trell
Political Leader: Kirk Jalson,
Speaker of the Assembly
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor Briaz
Culvertino
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
40%, Mammal
Twycross is the capital of Trellshire, the
Tamar Pact’s most underdeveloped,
underpopulated province. As such, life on
Twycross is an odd mixture of the slick,
subtle ways of politicians and the rough
justice so typical of worlds a distance from
the warmth of civilization.
The physical planet is also a study in
contrasts. Orbiting its large and hot sun,
Twycross has a climate of windstorms,
typhoons, tornadoes, and all manner of
minor disturbances. So common are
reports of major climatic cataclysms that
the native of Twycross tends to shrug them
off.
In order to survive the weather, the
cities of Twycross are either underground
or use squat, fat buildings. The major
industry of Trellshire is the manufacture of
BattleMechs.
World Name: Sevren
Star Type: K0III
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 5 days
Recharging Station: Nadir
Noble Ruler: Byron Scrivener,
Duke of Sevren
Political Leader: Leutnant-General
Cameron McCotter, Governor Pro Tem
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Deanna LeTourneau
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
30%, Mammal
In December of 3024, the LCAF
pushed the last remaining Kurita ‘Mechs
off this large industrialized world. Like most
worlds that have suffered major ‘Mech
battles, whole portions of Sevren’s surface
are scarred wastelands of torn earth,
uprooted trees, and buildings crushed
beneath the weight of BattleMechs.
Sevren is large, however, and much
of it still retains the planet’s original
character. There is considerable agriculture
here, despite the fact that the planet has
only one small ocean. What makes farming
possible are countless freshwater springs
and rivers running deep beneath the
ground. This allows the cultivation of land
that otherwise would be nothing but barren
desert. Also deep beneath the ground are
major deposits of radioactive and nonradioactive metals, which have created
heavy industries for the manufacture of
reactor cores for fission power plants and
steel major parts.
Though much of the fighting did avoid
damaging cities and industries, the
destruction of the Nesmith Nuclear
Industries nuclear processing plant has
created enormous problems. When the
plant mysteriously exploded the day after
the last Kurita DropShip left Sevren, it
spewed radioactive debris over several
square kilometers of the surrounding
terrain. The debris blanketed the nearby
city of New Cartris, a major population
center. Relief efforts are underway to seal
off the damaged plant and to scrub clean
the city, a backbreaking task that will
require enormous sums of money and at
least three years’ work.
World Name: Carse
Star Type: GIV, M1V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith (2), Nadir
Noble Ruler: Jonathan Limpo,
Duke of Carse
Political Leader: Prime Minister Colin
Doran Kennedy
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Cleont Utro
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
10%, Insect
Located on the border with the
Draconis Combine, the planet Carse is
another veteran of many battles and raids.
This world has binary suns. Because of the
unusually elliptical orbit and its relation to
the two stars, there are four different season
cycles. Currently the planet is in a Cold
Cycle, where the smaller Class M sun,
called Companion, occludes the larger sun
and blocks much of its heat. As a result, the
world is blanketed with snow, and the
smallest ocean, Minor Mare, is frozen over.
Ships are useless during the Cold Cycle,
and so industries use powered sledges to
carry cargo across Minor Mare. Only
DropShips and the largest Air Freighters
can cope with the planet’s constant winter
winds. Carse is a center of plastic and
plastisteel manufacturing, which draw on
the large deposits of oil and unusual
chemicals in the planet’s geology.
Carse has been fortunate in avoiding
war damage. Though many a ‘Mech has
lumbered across the planet’s large
expanses of empty land and many forests
have also suffered from the onslaught, the
cities have come through in fairly good
condition. At the moment, the city of New
Bonholm is the headquarters of the 23rd
Arcturan Guards.
World Name: Kobe
Star Type: G0V
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Sabina Haynes,
Duchess of Kobe
Political Leader: President Deboragh Kelf
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor Tuv
Stockdale
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
None
When Kobe was first colonized early
in the 25th century, it was a very young
world. The continents had just finished
forming, the volcanoes were newly silent,
and the seas recently calmed. By the
heyday of the Star League, the colonists
had transformed Kobe into a beautiful
world filled with species from over a
hundred different worlds. Kobe became a
fashionable vacation resort for the rich, and
even First Lord Cameron and his family
once spent time on the Della Islands.
But the Star League fell. That same
year, Kobe entered another volcanic phase.
The citizens of the planet became
convinced that the two events were
somehow related. Of the five continents that
were heavily populated at the time of the
League’s fall, only two are now capable of
sustaining life. The other continents fell prey
to almost constant earthquakes and
volcanoes. There were many catastrophes
during the 30 years after the eruption of
the first volcano; the worst and most bitterly
ironic was the eruption of Mount Millay,
whose pyroclastic flows and lava covered
the city called New Pompeii. The climate of
Kobe immediately changed from tropical
to subarctic because of the tons of volcanic
ash in the air. Cities had to cover their
streets and filter the air. Green became a
color of the past.
Kobe still manages to be a major
producer of computer electronics and
chemical engines. The recent eruptions of
Mount Augustine and Mount Tilson on one
of the remaining inhabited continents puts
the continued habitation of Kobe in doubt.
World Name: Dustball
Star Type: A9V
Position in System: 6
Time to Jump Point: 21 days
Recharging Station: None
Noble Ruler: Stefanie Wulfestieg,
Duchess of Dustball
Political Leader: President Vander
Malthus
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Lawrence Micone
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
None
“Dustball: where the elite meet, greet,
and satisfy their most wicked desires”.
Though not very subtle, Dustball’s slogan
is certainly not false. It is exactly as its
advertisements promise, and then some.
A small planet, Dustball bakes under
its huge and hot sun. The early colonists
put up with the brutal heat and lack of water
because surveys indicated the presence
of rich deposits of gemstones in the ground.
When the reports proved false, most of the
miners packed up and left.
The Malthus family did not. Moderately
rich, intelligent, and not above criminal
activity, its members decided to build a
complex of exotic casinos, nightclubs, and
hotels near the main spaceport. When the
idea proved successful, the Malthus family
expanded their facilities to service more
and more tourists who came to sample
Dustball’s pleasures. Currently, there are
five domed cities on the planet, each with
its own theme of pleasures. Much of the
money earned here is only semi-legal. The
Malthus family does not worry about that
because they are blackmailing so many of
the government officials, military officers,
and other public figures who once foolishly
satisfied their most wicked desires on
Dustball.
World Name: Kooken’s Pleasure Pit
Star Type: G5V
Position in System: 4
Time to Jump Point: 7 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: K. C. Meyers,
Duke of Kooken
Political Leader: President James Henroit
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Sherri Dun
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
40%, Mammal
The name of this planet was taken
from an infamous book written by Michael
Kooken. The book described Kooken’s
curious life and the many people he had
met and bedded. The book was so famous
and popular that a planet was named after
the hero’s legendary mansion.
In an attempt to shut down the Malthus
family on Dustball 20 years ago, the Steiner
government decided to create Kooken’s
Pleasure Pit to compete with them. Though
he encountered much protest for the plan,
Archon Alessandro believed that putting
the largest organized crime family out of
business justified the means.
Tourism is the planet’s only major
industry. Kooken’s remarkably temperate
climate and wide variety of terrains offer
many more diversions than does Dustball’s
desolate landscape. In certain cities, those
who pursue sensual pleasures can find
what they seek. All businesses plying the
sexual trade must submit to governmental
regulation on age, health, and working
condition laws for the benefit of the men
and women employed by such
establishments. Those who are not actively
associated with the pleasure industries can
live elsewhere on Kooken’s, places where
the strict laws forbid visits by overhormoned tourists.
Whether or not this attempt to rival
Dustball has worked is debatable. Though
the traffic in and out of Dustball has
decreased in recent years, many feel that
the Malthus family’s criminal activities are
too massive to be defeated by simple
business competition.
The planet itself is resource-poor,
though recent attempts to grow some exotic
grains for commercial use have met with
some success.
World Name: Suk II
Star Type: G5V
Position in System: 2
Time to Jump Point: 7 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Richard Irby, Duke of Suk II
Political Leader: Prime Minister Sharon
Huyck
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Marcus Drobneck
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
50%, Reptile
Suk II is another strategic border world
in the Tamar Pact. Scattered over its five
continents are several key rare metal
deposits that have become tempting
targets for raiders from the Draconis
Combine. These raiders drop into the
vicinity of the mines, steal whole boxcars
of metal ore before shooting up the mining
machinery, and then they retreat.
Suk is a very hospitable planet, except
for one major problem: over 50 percent of
the world’s water supplies are tainted with
a toxin excreted by a common algae native
to the world. Costly purification systems are
required to filter the toxins and the algae
out of the water. To no one’s surprise, the
water refineries have become another
favorite target of Kurita raiders. Many cities
have moved their water purification plants
to the middle of nearby military bases or
have disguised them to protect the vital and
complex machines.
The planet is currently the
headquarters of Hansen’s Roughriders, a
famed mercenary regiment. Relations
between the mercenaries and the citizens
have been fairly cordial, considering the
rather rough-house nature of the ‘Mech
regiment. That may all change because of
the recent murders of two women in
Kevilston, a city near the headquarters of
the Roughriders. The evidence presented
by the planetary government seems to
indicate that a Roughrider is responsible
for the women’s death. As yet, the
regiment’s commanding officers have not
turned over the suspected MechWarrior to
the planet’s authorities. The tension
between the two sides grows measurably
with each passing day.
World Name: Winfield
Star Type: G0V
Position in System: 5
Time to Jump Point: 8 days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Noble Ruler: Marcus Winfield,
Duke of Winfield
Political Leader: Assemblyman Leonard
Gelart
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Devoil Rangley
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
25%, Plant
Winfield is a small agricultural planet.
It has a long, calm growing season and a
warm atmosphere that makes the planet
ideal for all manner of crops. Its industries
make extensive use of the two shallow
oceans to grow many varieties of aquatic
life. All that stops Winfield from becoming a
rival to Bountiful Harvest is its smaller size.
Winfield was named after the noble
family that has ruled the planet for three
centuries. The Winfields slowly introduced
the population to modern farming
techniques that have further increased the
agricultural yield. Today, the farms of
Winfield produce more surplus food than
most other worlds. The Winfield family has
just concluded a deal with Nicholas
Electronics on nearby Persistence to build
a small assembly factory in Winfield’s
capital, Felsonville. This will be the first hightech manufacturing plant on Winfield, and
the population is extremely excited at the
prospect.
The famed Winfield’s Brigade is
stationed on this planet.
World Name: Arcturus
Star Type: K2III
Position in System: 5
Time to Jump Point: 5 days
Recharging Station: Zenith, Nadir
Noble Ruler: Michael Fyhne,
Duke of Arcturus
Political Leader: President Richard
Steiner II
ComStar Facility Class: A
ComStar Representative: Precentor
Millicent Kellsy
Percentage and Level of Native Life:
35%, Mammal
Arcturus is a ghost world filled with
people. When it was the capital of the Lyran
Commonwealth, its many cities were filled
with large, ornate buildings and the streets
bustled with noisy crowds. After the
Steiners moved the capital to Tharkad, the
cities of Arcturus quickly fell silent as the
remaining populace moved to the
countryside.
Today, Arcturus is an agricultural world
barely able to coax enough food from the
soil to feed itself. What few hidden
resources the planet has are processed in
the one remaining industrial city,
Malcheema.
Human beings are Arcturus’s only real
export. Though the nine Arcturan Guards
regiments are composed of men and
women from all over the Commonwealth,
tradition dictates that over a quarter of each
regiment’s personnel must be from
Arcturus. Though Arcturans are not
particularly warlike, they have a tradition
of dedication to the Lyran Commonwealth.
It is a great honor to have a son or daughter
in a Guards regiment. Native Arcturans are
also eagerly recruited for armored and
infantry regiments stationed throughout the
Commonwealth.